



























































BURTON-UPON-TKENT. 


































































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HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION 


OF THE 


STohnt ijotoucff) 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT, 


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WITH 


NOTICES 


OF THE 


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SURROUNDING VILLAGES. 



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BURTON-UPON-TRENT : 

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WILLIAM WESLEY. 



















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FOR a considerable portion of the following little work, the 
compiler is indebted to the “ History of Staffordshire,” by the 
Rev. Stebbing Shaw. This antiquary made most elaborate 
preparations for a history of his native county,—only a small 
portion of which, he lived to complete.* As this work has now 
become scarce, and is too expensive to be possessed by ordinary 
purchasers, it is unnecessary to offer much apology for the 
appearance of the present volume. 

In addition to Shaw’s History, other and more modern 
sources of information have been referred to, and much care has 
been taken to make this volume as complete as possible. 

To those gentlemen who have obligingly given their assis¬ 
tance, by communicating information not otherwise accessible, 
the Compiler returns his thankful acknowledgments. 

A portion of the notices of the neighbouring Tillages, has 
been derived from “ Bagshaw’s History and Directory of Derby¬ 
shire. 

The Compiler is aw’are that there are several deficiencies in 
the work,—for these he asks indulgence; the difficulty of obtaining 
complete and authentic information on such subjects is considera¬ 
ble ; he hopes, however, it will be found both instructive and inter¬ 
esting, and believes that it will convey to the reader, a better 
know-ledge of our Local History than was previously possessed. 


* The whole of Shaw’s manuscripts, drawings, and en¬ 
gravings, are now in the possession of William Salt, Esq., of 
Lombard Street, London. 



















































CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

EARLY HISTORY, . 1 

Remarkable events, . 17 

BURTON ABBEY, . 28 

Bequests, . 29 

Tithes, . 37 

Remains, . 40 

Abbey Church,. 43 

Abbots of Burton, . 44 

Dissolution, . 53 

Abbey Property. 54 

THE BRIDGE, . 57 

PRESENT CONDITION OP THE TOWN, 64 

Public Improvements, . 65 

Population,. 68 

Local Government, . 70 

Markets and Pairs, . 71 

PLACES OP WORSHIP, 

Parish Church,. 72 

Monuments, . 75 

Holy Trinity Church, . 79 

Christ Church. 80 

Congregational Chapel, . 82 

Wesleyan, Salem, General Baptist, and 
Primitive Methodist Chapels, . 83 

TRADE AND MANUFACTURES, . 84 

Brewing Trade,. 85 






























11. 


CONTENTS. 


PUBLIC BUILDINGS, INSTITUTIONS, 
CHARITIES, &c. 

Town Hall,. 

Grammar School, . 

Allsopp’s, National, and British Schools, 

Natural History Society,. 

Literary Society, . 

Burton Cattle Insurance Association, 
Burton, Uttoxeter, & Ashbourn Union 

Bank, . 

Savings’ Bank, Poor Law Union, Medical 
Dispensary, Inns and Hotels, . 


89 

90 

91 

92 
92 


98 


94 


RAILWAY COMMUNICATION, 

West Branch of Midland Railway, Burton 
and Leicester Branch of Midland 
Railway, and North Staffordshire 
Railway . 95 


CHARITIES, 

Town Lands, . 96 

Finney’s Charity, AVorkhouse Garden, 
Pavement House, and New Close, ... 101 
Daniel Watson’s, Isaac Hawkin’s, and 

Astle’s Charities,.102 

Mrs. Almond’s Gift,.103 

Hawkin’s Charity, .104 

Steele’s Charityand Paulett’s Almshouses, 105 

Parker’s Almshouses, .107 

Caldwall’s Charity, .108 

Ancient Houses, . . ... Ill 


TOWNSHIPS IN BURTON PARISH, 

Branston,. 113 

Horninglow, . 114 

Stretton, . 115 

Winshill, .116 

Shobnall and Wetinore, . 116 & 117 


CONTESTS. 


NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES, 


Alrewas, . 

.118 

Bretby, . 

.120 

Cliurch G-resley, . 

.123 

Castle G-resley, . 

.124 

Drakelow, . 

.125 

Swadlincote,. 

.12(3 

Catton, . 

Etwall, . 

.12(3 

.127 

Eoremark,. 

.130 

Hartshorn,. 

.131 

Lullington,. 

.133 

Newton Solney,. 

.135 

Bepton, . 

Bolleston,. 

. ... 137 

.140 

Bosliston,. 

.141 

Tatenhill, . 

.142 

Barton-under-Needwood, 

.143 

Tutbury, . 

.145 

W alton-on-Trent, . 

.147 

"Willington,. 

.148 

Yoxall, . 

.150 

Need wood Forest, . 

.151 


















ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE. 


Y St. Modwen’s Church, 


.. front isp 

iece. 

The Old Abbey Church,.. 



28 

i, Flan of Ditto, 



ib. 

An Ancient Doorway, .. 



54 

v The Bridge, 



57 

Map of The Town, 



64 

y Trinity Church, 



79 

/Christ Church, 



80 

v Congregational Chapel, 



82 

The Town, 


• 

111 

Foremark Hall, 



130 

Repton Church, 



137 

















































. 

' 












BURTON-UPON-TRENT. 


EARLY HISTORY. 

“ Nor rough, nor barren are the winding ways 
Of hoar antiquity—but strew’d with flowers.” 

The early records of Burton may not possess 
matter of much interest to the general antiquary or 
historian, yet, to its inhabitants, and to all whose 
early recollections are associated with the place, 
there can scarcely fail to be found subjects of inter¬ 
est in connection with its history. That mind 
must be of an incurious and not very intelligent 
order, which never speculates on the past, nor ori¬ 
ginates a single enquiry on the state of the country 
or town of his birth, or abode,—in bygone times. 
What beings trod the earth we tread, in ages past ? 
What may have been their character and pursuits ? 
What records of their industry or taste, or piety, 
or superstition now exist ? Does the place stand 
connected with any great events or personages in 
the history of our country at large ? What have 
been the principal epochs in our local history ? 
And how has what surrounds us arrived at its pres¬ 
ent state of perfection or decay P 



8 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT. 


The early history of Burton, like that ol most 
other towns of both greater and smaller note, is invol¬ 
ved in the darkness of antiquity. That it is a place of 
very ancient origin, is, however, beyond question. 
In the ancient Saxon annals the town is written 
Byretun , which is synonymous with Buretun , or 
Buryton, names used by the Saxons to distinguish 
places of British or Homan origin. It is, moreover, 
situated on the Icknield Street Way,—one of the 
great roads with which Homan enterprise and indus¬ 
try intersected our country. Homan antiquities have 
also been disinterred in the neighbourhood. 

Fertility of soil, pleasantness of situation, and the 
circumstance of the river Trent being fordable at 
this part of its course, as well as the other circum¬ 
stances just referred to, all seem to indicate that the 
habitations of men have existed here from at least 
the time of the Homan Invasion, probably from a 
period far beyond this, when Britain was peopled 
only by a horde of savages, and, 

“ The wily Druid bound in impious chains, 

The mind and soul immortal.” 

During the Saxon Heptarchy, the County of Staf¬ 
ford formed part of the powerful kingdom of Mercia, 
and Shaw supposes that Burton had risen to some 
importance at that period. But the history of the 
Town assumes a more positive form in the ninth 
century, from that venerable lady, Saint Modwen, 
making Burton the place of her abode, and the scene 
of her pious labours. The following account of this 


EARLY HISTORY. 


9 


renowned saint is from Holinshed :— 

“ In tliis season, (the reign of King Ethelwolfe) 
one Modwen, a virgine in Ireland, was greatly re¬ 
nowned in the world, unto whome, the forenamed 
King Ethelwolfe sent his sonne Alfred to he cured 
of a disease, that was thought incurable ; but by hir 
meanes he recovered health, and therefore, when hir 
monasterie was destroied in Ireland, Modwen came 
over into England, unto whom king Ethelwolfe gave 
land to build two abbeies, and also delivered unto 
hir his sister Edith, to be professed a nun. Modwen 
hereupon built two monasteries, one at Poulesworth, 
joining to the bounds of Arderne, wherein she 
placed the foresaid Edith with Osith and Athea; the 
other whether it was a monasterie or cell, she founded 
in Strenshall, or Trentsall, where she hirselfe re¬ 
mained solitarie a certain time in praier, and other 
vertuous exercises. And (as it is reported) she went 
thrice to Home, and fmallie died, being 130 yeeres 
of age. Hir bodie was first buried in an iland, com¬ 
passed about with the river of Trent, called Andresey, 
taking that name of a church or chapel of St. An¬ 
drew, which she had built in the same iland, and 
dwelled therein for the space of seven yares. Manie 
monasteries she budded, both in England, (as partlie 
above is mentioned) ; and also in Scotland, as at 
Striveling, Edenbrough; and in Ireland at Celest- 
line, and elsewhere.” 

The name of this saint is variously written, as 
Moclwenna , Mowenna , Mudwin, and Modwen . The 


10 


EUKTCXN-UPON-TEENT. 


place of her residence, Andressey , appears some¬ 
times to have been called Mudwenstowe, as is proved 
from Leland, who also says, “ Quae scilicit Modwenna, 
tandem apud insulam Andresseiam jnxta Burtoni- 
am post septennem inclusionem in domino abdor- 
mivit,’ , the translation of which is,—Modwen at 
last, after having secluded herself seven years in the 
island Andressey, near Burton, slept in the Lord. 

The following epitaph is from Camden— 

“ Ortum Modwennse dat Hibernia, Scotia finem, 

“ Anglia dat tumulum, dat Deus Astra poli. 
u Prima dedit vitam, sed mortem terra secunda, 

“ Et teram terrse tertia terra dedit. 

“ Aufert Lanfortin quam terra Connallea prae-fert, 

“ Eelix Burtonium virginis ossa tenet.” 

Thus quaintly translated by Shaw:— 

“ Ireland gave Modwen birth ; England a grave ; 
Scotland her end ; Grod her salvation gave. 

Life gives the first; her death the third earth gives. 
The second earth her earthly part receives. 
Lanfortin takes whom chief, Tyr Connel owns, 

And favour’d Burton keeps the virgin’s bones.” 

It is well known that at the period when the 
popish religion prevailed in this country there exis¬ 
ted springs called “Holy wells,” which were believed 
to possess the useful property of healing various 
bodily diseases. This virtue was supposed to be 
derived from proximity to the abode of some 
saint, who had used or consecrated their waters. 


EARLY HISTORY. 


11 


Hence, holy wells became the general resort of the 
superstitious ; a class sufficiently numerous to em¬ 
brace the whole community at the period in question, 
and for many subsequent centuries. Such a well 
existed at, or near the spot, called Andressey. In 
a rental of the Earl of Uxbridge, written in the 
reign of Edward VI., it is specified that Andrew's 
Isle , alias Mudwins Chappell, was let to John 
Hewitt at will, at the annual rent or sum of three 
shillings and threepence. There is every reason to 
believe that this well and chapel were situated on 
the flat meadow opposite the church yard, as this 
spot is still known as Annesley, or Andressey; and 
the part of the river dividing the island from the 
adjacent shore is called the Modwens, or Mudwins. 
Plot, too, in his Natural History of Staffordshire, 
mentions St. Modwen’s Well as celebrated for the 
cure of King’s Evil, and for the extraordinary cures 
performed by its waters. 

The erection of the Abbey is the next important 
feature of interest in the history of Burton. This 
building was founded a. d. 1002, by Wulfric Spot, 
Earl of Mercia. A more detailed account of the 
Abbey will be given in a subsequent part of this 
work. 

It is probable that the erection of the Bridge 

about this period, together with the flourishing state 

of the Abbey, gave an impulse to the town, and 

greatly advanced its prosperity. There is reason to 

suppose that the earliest buildings were in the vicinity 

b 2 


12 


BXJRTO?r-UTO^-TREiyi f . 


of the Abbey, and the population increasing, they 
gradually extended along High Street, to the west¬ 
ern end of the Bridge. 

In tracing the most remarkable events in connec¬ 
tion with the town of Burton, we find about 

1210. That part of the town called Horninglow 
Street, was built by William Melburne, the then 
Abbot; who first obtained for the Burgesses of 
Burton the charter for a market and fair. 

1255. A large portion of the town destroyed by 
fire: an event not unfrequent in those days, owing 
to the combustible materials with which the houses 
were constructed, and from the general absence of 
chimneys. 

1285. In this year there occurred a great famine. 
Shaw states that Thomas Pakington, Abbot of Bur¬ 
ton at this period, built Station Street, until lately 
called Cat Street, through what was then called 
Siwarmoor, and leading to the ancient Icknield 
Street. 

1320. At this period, Thomas, the second Earl 
of Lancaster, was the princely occupant and propri¬ 
etor of the estates and castle of Tutbury. Having 
formed an alliance with the King of the Scots, and 
taken up arms against the King, (Edward II.) the 
Earl’s forces and the King’s met near Burton, 
the principal scene of the contest being upon the 
Bridge. The following account of the “ Battle of 
Burton Bridge,” is thus related by Sir O. Mosley, 
in his interesting and valuable “History of Tutbury”: 


BATTLE UPON THE BRIDGE. 


13 


“ Some of my readers may, perhaps, never have 
passed over the long and narrow bridge of thirty-six 
arches, which crosses the river at Burton-upon- 
Trent: during the period to which my history now 
refers, it was equally long, and even narrower than 
at present; a chapel then stood at the northern end 
of it, above a gateway, which formed the entrance 
into the town ; the other end of the bridge was 
open, but capable of an easy defence, on account of 
the battlements being high, and the road between 
them narrow. The earl instantly availed himself of 
this favourable position to oppose the progress of 
the king, whose approach to Tutbury castle lay 
through this place : he strongly fortified each end of 
the bridge, and manned the battlements with some 
of his choicest troops. The monks, who inhabited 
the abbey of Burton, were compelled to assist him 
with contributions of money and provisions, whilst 
a multitude of rapacious and disorderly soldiers were 
quartered upon the inhabitants of the town. On 
the 6th of March, when the king had arrived at the 
village of Caldwell, within four miles of Burton, 
where he had intended to have passed the night, he 
was first informed, that his enemies had got pos¬ 
session of the bridge, and disputed his passage over 
it. His vanguard had already made an attempt to 
dislodge them, but had been repulsed with consider¬ 
able loss. During the last three days of his march, 
it had rained almost incessantly; the brooks were 
swollen, and the Trent had overflowed its banks : the 


14 


BURTON-UPON-TEEISTT. 


royal army was much fatigued and dispirited by 
these untoward circumstances; and although the 
accommodations which the country afforded, were 
very insufficient for so large a force, it was found 
absolutely necessary to halt here for a few days. In 
this dilemma it was determined by a council of war, 
that the Earl of Surrey should endeavour to pass 
the river, with the heavy-armed troops, by a bridge 
some miles distant; and so bring them up to attack 
the enemy’s rear, whilst the rest of the army were 
to continue the assault upon the bridge at Burton. 
The passage of the river was effected, however, with 
greater ease than had been anticipated; for, during 
this delay, the weather had become fine, and the 
floods, which are here equally rapid in their rise and 
fall, had subsided: early on the morning of Wed¬ 
nesday, the 10th of March, a tenant of the abbot of 
Burton, who had suffered from the exactions of the 
Earl of Lancaster and his party, came to the head¬ 
quarters of the king, and informed some of his 
officers, that there was a ford then passable, by 
which they might safely conduct their men across 
the river. This welcome intelligence was no sooner 
received, than they proceeded to act upon it: the 
Earls of llichmond and Pembroke were sent with 
three hundred horsemen in complete armour, to 
gain the ford; whilst the king with his brother, the 
Earl of Kent, secretly drew off the main body of the 
army, by cross roads and narrow lanes, to the village 
of Walton, where this ford was situated. In the 


BATTLE UPON THE BRIDGE. 


15 


meantime a brave officer, named Robert Waters, 
was left to make a vigorous attack upon the head of 
the bridge with a party of infantry, backed by a 
considerable number of archers and crossbow men, 
in order that the Earl of Lancaster and his men 
should have less opportunity of perceiving their 
movements. The execution of the plan was crowned 
with the most complete success : Robert Waters 
performed his part so efficiently, that it required the 
whole power of the enemy to repel his attack, whilst 
the remainder of the king’s army was conducted 
through the ford in safety, and unperceived by the 
enemy, until they had arrived in the meadows be¬ 
yond the town. It was then that the confederate 
barons, fearful of being surrounded, abandoned the 
defence of the bridge and hastily drew up their men 
in order of battle. They were not, however, prepa¬ 
red to meet so large a force, as the king was enabled 
to bring against them; for he had received within 
the last three days, considerable reinforcements; 
and his army having been partially concealed during 
that time, from those who were in the town, by the 
rising ground on the opposite side of the Trent, they 
were not aware of its numbers, before they saw 
them collected in the plain, after their passage 
through the river. Consternation and irresolution 
were the necessary consequences of this surprise; 
the Earl of Lancaster had none of the qualifications 
of a general, being alike ignorant of securing the 
fruits of victory, and of remedying any oversight 


16 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT. 


that might have been committed : added to which, 
his officers and their men were as rapacious and dis¬ 
orderly in their quarters, as they were timid and 
undisciplined in the field. In the distraction of the 
moment he could give no orders, nor did his accom¬ 
plices venture to advise him : all returned precipi¬ 
tately into the town, which, in the wantonness of 
despair they set on fire ; from hence they were soon 
dislodged by the king’s troops, and, after having 
suffered great loss, the earl and his attendants re¬ 
treated to Tutbury. In this action the Lord Roger 
d’Ammory was so badly wounded, that he died in a 
few days afterwards, in the priory of that place. 
The king’s people, upon entering the town of Bur¬ 
ton, succeeded in extinguishing the flames, and 
found considerable booty there, which the enemy in 
their haste had left behind them. The defeat of his 
army was not the only calamity that the unfortunate 
earl was doomed to suffer on this eventful day : no 
sooner had he reached his castle than he received 
the unwelcome news of Sir Robert Holland’s defec¬ 
tion ; that unworthy favourite, instead of bringing 
with him the long expected supplies from the north, 
had betrayed his trust, and gone over to the king. 
Thus deprived of all hope of further succour, and 
being unprepared with the means of sustaining a 
regular siege at Tutbury, he determined to return to 
Pontefract, and from thence, should it be requisite, 
to proceed to Dunstanburgh, in Northumberland, 
which place, from its proximity to the borders of 


REMARKABLE EYEKTS. 


17 


Scotland, would give him every advantage of com¬ 
munication with his northern allies.* 

1426. In this year the upper part of the town 
was paved by the Abbot. 

1549. At the end of a curious rental of the 
Earl of Uxbridge, at this date, appears the following 
record:— 

“ Mem. On Moneday and Tuesday in the morn- 
ynges, being the xvth and xvith dayes of November, 
in the yeare of our Lord Grod, one thousande fyve 
hundreth threescore and fouretene, there were seen 
in the element certayne strange lights, whereof 
some appeared verie fyerie, and terrible to behold, 
and stretched downe, as yt seemed, almost to the 
earthe, and were in the Northe, the Easte, and the 

* Previous to his defeat he had caused a considerable quantity of 
Scotch coin to be forwarded to Tutbury, under the impression, that it 
would be wanted to pay the soldiers, whom his allies had promised to 
send him: it was now no longer useful in these parts ; and he intrusted 
it, together with a large amount of English and Flemish coin, to the care 
Leicester, his treasurer, with orders that he should convey it as quickly 
as possible to Pontefract. The celerity, however, with which the king 
continued his pursuit, scarcely permitted the earl to make these neces¬ 
sary arrangements : the other barons, with the troops under their com¬ 
mand, had already set out on their march, and he was now compelled to 
follow them with less delay than he h id contemplated, for notice was 
brought him, that his enemies were approaching the castle. The mili¬ 
tary chest was sent off under a strong detatc.hment, and the Earl of Lan¬ 
caster had not left the castle half an hour before the king’s troops 
entered it. In the alarm and confusion which attended the passage of 
the river Dove below the town, the chest with all its contents was lost. 
Leicester never returned to recover the treasure, and successive floods 
soon deposited above it a deep bed of sand and gravel. After a lapse of 
five centuries, upwards of three hundred thousand of the coins which 
this chest contained were, in the month of June, 1831, rcco\ered from 
the bed of the river, by the astonished inhabitants of Tutbury and its 
vicinity.— Sir 0. Mosley's History of Tutbury. 



18 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT. 


Weste. And at those tymes yt was as liglite as if 
yt liad ben daye. These lights continued from tenne 
of the clocke in the nighte untyll breake of the daye, 
and seined moste fearfull in the mornynges after 
foure of the clock: and hapned the dayes ymediately 
after the chaunge of the moone, and the eclypse of 
the sunne.* 

“ On Satterday the xxyii daie of November, in 
the yeare of oure Lorde one thousand five hundreth 
and fourtene, there hapned a great floode at Burton- 
upon-Trent, the lyke wherof (comyne upon so small 
cause of rayne) was never seen; for besides the 
overflowing of the Bonde-ende, the Catstreate, and 
halfe the Newe-streat, and all the grounds aboute 
the towne, yt came abundantly into the Manor, and 
overflowed the buttryes, the seller, the lower hall 
(to the myddest steppe going into the courte), and 
the lower parler, and the stables, barne, backhouse, 
brewhouse and all the houses of offyce thereabouts. 

“William Warde.” 

1586. It is probable that the unfortunate Mary, 
Queen of Scots, was in the town this year, as the 
following memorial was, or is still existing, in the 
window over the door of the Manor House, at 
Abbots Bromley:—“ Maria, Begina Scotia, quondam 
transibat istibat villain, 21 Septembris, 1586, usque 
Burton.” She was probably on her way from 
Chartley to Fotheringay castle. 

* These mysterious appearances were lioubtless nothing more than 
the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. 


REMARKABLE EVENTS. 


19 


1611. In this year one Edward Wightman, of 
Burton, was burnt at Lichfield, for calling himself 
the Holy Ghost, and holding what were deemed 
dangerous, heretical and blasphemous opinions. An 
old writer remarks, that his punishment was es¬ 
teemed well pleasing to God! because none were 
after it found to follow his heretical doctrines. 


BURTON DURING THE CIVIL WARS. 

Burton, like most other towns in England, suf¬ 
fered severely during the civil contentions, between 
the Parliamentary forces and the armies of King 
Charles I. 

During this troubled period the town was seve¬ 
ral times taken and retaken by both parties. The 
inhabitants of the present day, can form no idea of 
the dreadful contests and bloodv scenes, which dis- 
turbed the peace and endangered the lives and 
properties of their unfortunate ancestors during the 
civil wars. 

Early in the year 1613, the parliamentary forces 

attacked and plundered the house of the Earl of 

Chesterfield, at Bretbv, tliev then returned to Bur- 

ton, where they placed a garrison. This garrison 

was attacked and defeated by Prince Rupert, after 

lie had taken Lichfield Close, and another garrison 

was placed here for the King. Prince Rupert’s 

garrison was shortly afterwards captured by a party 

under Lord Grey, who replaced a parliamentary 

garrison under a captain Sanders. Shortly after 

c 



20 


13URTON-UPON-TRENT. 


this, a battle took place here between a regiment of 
the King’s forces under Sir John Harpur, and 
some of the parliamentary forces, in which the latter 
were successful, taking Sir John Harpur, six cap¬ 
tains, and many other officers and soldiers, prisoners. 

From a letter to the Earl of Essex it appears that 
the parliamentary forces met with still further success 
in Burton, in capturing many of Lord Lough¬ 
borough’s and Col. Bagot’s men. 

1644. The parliament had here a strong garrison ; 
relating to this are the following curious letters :— 

“ To the Earl of Essex. 

“ My lord, 

“ We are humble suitors to your excellency that 
we may have liberty, under your authority, to set 
up a garrison of 200 foote, and 300 horse at Burton- 
upon-Trent, in Staffordshire, and this to be donne 
with al convenient speede. The reasons moving us 
are these : the towne is well affected, and hath been 
miserably afflicted by the enemy, and still suffers for 
want of helpe ; we have settled a garrison at Barton 
parke, in this county, within 2 miles of Tutburie, 
which so curbs that garrison, that on Thursday last, 
the soldyers there laid down theyre armes and re¬ 
fused to serve any longer without present money, 
yet with much importunity and promise of future 
pay, they were content to expect a whyle longer, 
and since the governors of that castle have imposed 
a larger tax, than formerly they did upon the neigh¬ 
bor inhabitants of Staffordshire, at Burton and 


EVENTS DUBING THE CIVIL WAES. 


21 


thereabouts, towards the payment of those souldiers, 
our horse are now joyned with the force of Leicester, 
and are settling a garrison within 2 myles of Ashby 
to keep them from rangeing abroade ; and we are con¬ 
fidently perswaded that if we had a strong garrison 
at Burton, as things now stand, we could much dis¬ 
tress al the three enemie garisons of Ashby, Tutbury 
and Lichfield; and are not without hope, in a short 
tyme, to reduce some of them to the parliament’s 
service. We beseech your excellency, that towards 
the maintenance of our soldiers at Burton, we may 
have two divisions of Staffordshire assigned unto us, 
and those two that now lie within the enemies 
quarters, and yield the parliament’s partie no con¬ 
tribution at all, yet we doubt not but presently to 
bring them to obedyence. This, my lord, is the de¬ 
sire of many well affected persons, yet in duety we 
durst doe nothing in it, without first knoweing your 
pleasure, which we humbly desire, by this bearer, 
and it shall be readeley obey’d by 

Your excellencies most humble servants, 
Nov. 16, 1644. F. (4. G. G. T. G.” 

“.Staffordshire have many comanders and few 
souldiers, so as they are scarce able to keepe 
theire owne garisons.” 

To this communication the Earl returned the fol¬ 
lowing reply:— 

“ Sir, 

The reason that I have detained your messenger 
so long, is, that upon discourse with some of Staf- 


22 


BURTOlST-UPOlS-TREiNT. 


fordshire gentlemen, concerning the placeing s 
garyson in Burton, I fynd in them great opposition 
and unwillingness, in regard of the pooreness of the 
inhabitants there, and that the town eonsisteth only 
of clothvers and maulsters ; and if that be made a 
garison, and shut up from trading, they would sud¬ 
denly be impoverished, and likewise- the Stafford¬ 
shire horse haveing most of their maintenance from 
that place, and if any forces of other counties be put 
in garison there, theire forces haveing but lyttle pay 
now, would there be much more straightned and dis¬ 
couraged ; yet, notwithstanding, I have prevayled 
with them that a garison slial be placed there, for 
which purpose they have desired me, that they may 
put two hundred horse and one hundred foote there, 
and you to jovne with them and place in the rest, 
for the compleating of the garison, al which I 
recommend unto you, desiring you will accept of it, 
that in your doeing thereof, there may be no divi¬ 
sion amongst you ; but accord, (it being for the 
general! good of the kingdom) as heeometh neigh¬ 
bors and loveing trends.. 


Sir, I am 


Your assured trend, 
Essex.” 


Essex House , 
Nov. 22. 1644. 


The statement of the Earl of Essex, respecting 
the occupations of the inhabitants of Burton, at this, 
period corresponds with that of Sir Simon Degge, 
who says, “ it was before the last wars a town much 


REMARKABLE E V E N T S. 


23 


given to eloathing, their kersies being in great 
esteem in this country; but since the war it hath 
declined in trade, having suffered much by the plun¬ 
der, it being held out against the king.” 

During the year 1644, the ancient abbey church 
suffered much injury by the accidental explosion of 
two barrels of gunpowder, which were deposited 
therein. 

Whit Sunday, May, 25, 1645. The king’s forces 
marched to Burton-upon-Trent, which was at this 
time the head quarters of the army. 

Sir Thomas Tyldesley, who served King Charles 
T. as Lieut. Col. at the Battle of Edge Hill, &c., was 
knighted “for the desperate storming of Burton- 
upon-Trent, over a bridge of thirty-six arches.” 


The following incident is thus quaintly chronicled 
by Dr. Plot:— 

1680. Mary, the wife of John Stone, of this 
place, falling into a well, was so frighted, that for a 
fortnight she slept but little, but at length she fell 
into so sound a sleep, that she waked not in four¬ 
teen days and nights.” 

The principal events, during the 18th century, 
in connection with Burton, are thus recorded by 
Shaw;— 

“ 1771. A very large flood overflowed the great¬ 
est part of this town, the latter end of the year. 

1789. The king’s (G-eorge III.) recovery from 

c 2 



24 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT. 


his late alarming illness, was celebrated here with 
great loyalty and splendour. 

1791. A new fire engine was purchased by sub¬ 
scription of £57. Another was also purchased by 
Kobert Peel, Esq. 

- July 16. At a confirmation held in the 

church, by the Eight Eev. James Cornwallis, Lord 
Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, 1238 persons 
were confirmed, including 464 under certificate from 
the minister of the parish. 

1792. April. Another large flood upon the Trent, 
which entered many houses in Burton-Extra, IS r ew 
Street, Horninglow Street, &c. 

1793. The bells newly hung at an expense of 
£ 60 . 

- May. A subscription of £40 and upwards 

collected in the parish, towards the relief of the 
French refugee clergy. 

- December. A night watch first established 

in Burton and Burton-Extra, by voluntary subscrip¬ 
tions, and a man apprehended in the act of stealing 
fowls, the first night. 

1794. A voluntary subscription of upwards of 
£500, in the town and hamlets, for the purpose of 
enlisting volunteers to join a foot regiment, raised 
at the expense of Lord Paget. 

- Oct. 5. Sixteen male and female infants 

brought to church this day, at evening service, for 
public baptism ; a larger number than was ever 
known there at one time. 







EEMAEKABLE EVENTS. 


25 


1794. Dec. A severe frost set in, accompanied 
at various times by large quantities of snow, and 
continued till tlie 9th of February, 1795 ; during 
which the poor of this town were for many weeks 
relieved with bread and coals, provided by a volun¬ 
tary subscription of the inhabitants, of upwards of 
£130 ; there were also many private donations, be¬ 
sides £100 in bread and beef, annually given by the 
Earl of Uxbridge. 

1795. Feb. 10. Owing to the sudden thaw on 
this and the preceding day, the river Trent rose 
higher than was ever before known by the oldest 
person in the parish ; about 12 o’clock at night, 
(the water being at the highest) every part of the 
town, except the church, the north side of the 
churchyard, and the Market Place, were entirely 
overflowed, the water then standing nine or ten 
inches in most of the houses; and even at nine 
o’clock the next morning, when the water was 
falling, a boat was rowed from the house of Mr 
Hawkins, up the High Street, into Cat Street; more 
or less damage was sustained by every inhabitant. 
The brew houses, malt offices, and other manufac¬ 
tories, the wharf and raff yards suffered considerably, 
and charcoal to the amount of several hundred 
pounds was carried away from Mr Lloyd’s forge, a 
little below the bridge. No mail or waggon was 
capable of passing in or out of the town for two 
days. Many parts of the bridge were considerably 
damaged, and on Friday afternoon, the 13th, the 


26 


BUBTON-UPON-TBENT. 


third arch at tlie west end of it fell in: which was 

rebuilt in the course of the ensuing summer, by Mr 

John Stanley, of Duffield, at the expense of about 

£200, some other repairs were also done the same 

year. 

«/ 

- July and August. Wheat uncommonly 

scarce, and sold at the astonishing price of 24s. per 
strike. During this scarcity and dearth, the poor 
of this town were supplied with flour at a reduced 
price, by a voluntary subscription of the inhabitants, 
amounting to £109 12s. Od. including a benefaction 
from Isaac Hawkins, Esq. and £83 15s. 6d, from 
the fund under the management of the feofees of 
the public charities of the town. 

In the autumn of 1795, the drought continued so 
long as to make this year still more remarkable, by 
exhibiting the river Trent at the highest and lowest 
water ever remembered. 

- Nov. 5. Early this morning, an uncom¬ 
monly high wind; by which a very considerable part 
of the battlement on the north side of the church 
was blown down and fell upon the roof, and the 
minute hand on the west dial was bent nearly dou¬ 
ble. Much other damage was done in various parts 
of the town.” 

1801. Much distress prevailed in the town, in 
consequence of the dearness of provisions ; bread 
of inferior quality selling for 6s. per stone. 

1809. A regiment of volunteers raised in Burton, 
under command of Col. Peel. 




REMARKABLE EVENTS. 


27 


1815. A deputation from Burton presented a 
loyal address to tlie Prince Regent, on his arrival at 
Beaudesert, the seat of the Marquis of Anglesey, on 
which occasion, the High Bailiff, John Dickinson 
Bowler, Esq. received the honour of knighthood. 

1821. The coronation of King George IV. cele¬ 
brated here, with enthusiastic demonstrations of 
loyalty. 

1829. Great floods on the Trent this year ; the 
town flooded in various parts. 

1832. The town first lighted with gas. 

1838. The footpaths in High Street paved with 
flag stones. 

1839. The line of Railway passing this town, 
from Birmingham to Derby, opened on the first of 
August. 

1844. A new sewer, nearly a mile and a half in 
length, constructed through the principal streets. 

1847. Upwards of one thousand pounds collected 
from the inhabitants of the town and neighbour¬ 
hood, for the relief of the sufferers by famine, in 
Ireland. 


28 


BUKTON ABBEY. 

“ In Saxon strength the Abbey frown’d. 

With massive arches, broad and round.” 

Undoubtedly the most important feature in the 
ancient history of Burton, is the establishment of 
the monastery, which was founded a. d. 1002, in the 
reign of Ethelred, surnamed the Unready, by Wul- 
fric, Alfric, or Ulfric, Earl of Mercia. This noble¬ 
man held important offices of state, and was related 
to the royal family, to whom however, he became a 
traitor, as well as to the nation. He is generally 
supposed to have been slain in a severe conflict with 
the Danes, at the battle of Ipswich, a. d. 1010. 

In reference to this abbey, Camden states, that 
Burton was famous “ amongst other instances, for 
an ancient monastery, founded by Ulfric Spot, 
Earl of Mercia, and once remarkable for the retreat 
of Modwenna, or Mowenna, an Irish woman.” But 
this must have been a mistake of the historian, as 
this Modwen flourished in the ninth century, and 
Burton Abbey was not founded until the commence¬ 
ment of the eleventh. The probability, therefore, 
is that her remains were translated here, and that 
a shrine might have been erected, thus adding to 
the sanctity and celebrity of the place. The Book 



•uuntn-niUny innn/sirnin' uuuj 




















































































































































































East 



3 

•*} 



I 


GROUND PLAN OF BURTON ABBEY. 





































































. 


v ; ' 



































THE ABBET. 


29 


of Abingdon also furnishes the following statement: 

“ A servant of King Etlielred, named IJlfric Spot, 
built the Abbey at Burton, and gave it all bis 
paternal estate, value £700. In this monastry 
Modwenna, whose sanctitv was renowned in these 
parts, was buried, with the lines before quoted, on 
her tomb, by way of epitaph.” 

It is not easy to ascertain the present situation of 
the estates which were bequeathed to Burton Abbey 
by Wulfric, the following list is from the most 
authentic sources, and alphabetically arranged :— 

In Staffordshire he devised, 

Aclea, Oakley, near Elford, after the death of his 
daughter. A farm at Actuna, probably Acton. 
Ac ope, Oakover, Bromleag , Bromley Abbots. Bed- 
intune. BurJiton, Burton-upon-Trent; also a farm 
at Burton. Land at Bubandune , Bubbington, or 
Bovingdon, jointly with the bishop. A little piece 
of land at Coteivaldune , Cotwalton, near Stone. 
Celfdurn , near Oakover. Cettesthurne Castern, near 
Oakover. Beorlafestune, Darlaston, near Stone. 
Elleforda , Elford, after the death of his daughter. 
Gageleage, the forest of Grayley. Hilum , Ham, near 
Oakover. Langandune , Longdon, jointly with the 
monks of Tamworth. JSIortun , Moreton. Bade- 
gard , Rudyard, near Leek. Streaton, Stretton, 
near Burton. Snodclerswic, belonging to Morton. 

In Warwickshire, 

Land at Herbergebirig, Hurbury. 



30 


BUKTOX-UPON-TIlENT. 


In Leicestershire, 

A farm at Aepelby , Appleby. A little piece of 
land at Scenctune, Shankton. A hide of land at 
Scearnforda , Sharnford, belonging to Wigston. 
Twongan , Tonge, near Donnington, after the death 
of Ethelric. A little piece of land at Wicgestane . 
Land at Waddune, Whatton. 

In Nottinghamshire, 

Ealdeswurthe , Aldesworth. 

In Derbyshire, 

Alfredingtune , Alfreton. Bregeshall, Breadsall. 
JEccleshale, Eccleshall. Morlega , Morley. Oggod- 
estune, Ogston. Suttune, Sutton. Also a farm at 
Sutton. One hide of land at Sceon, Shene. Ticen- 
hale, Ticknall. Wyneshylle , Win shill. A farm at 
Willeslega, Willesley. Winnefelde , Wingfield. A 
farm at Westune, Weston. 

In Shropshire, 

A little piece of land at Remesleage, Barnsley. 
A farm at Sciplea, Shipley. 

In Lancashire and Chester, 

He bequeathed 1000 flat fish to be given every 
season by Aelfhelme and Wulfage, for estates de¬ 
vised to them, and at Wyrbaluim , Wyrehall in 
Cheshire. 

In Yorkshire, 

He bequeathed one third of the fish caught to be 
given annually by Elf helm e of Cunugesburg , Conings- 
borough, near Doncaster, devised to him. 


BEQUESTS TO THE ABBEY. 


31 


He also devised in counties unknown, lands at 
Halen , Langanford , Niwantuiie , Niwentune, Styr- 
leage, Suthtune, Tcithawyllan , Wcidedun , Wytestun. 
Lastly lie bequeathed 160 horses and the whole 
residue of his estates. 

For a confirmation of this will, Wulfrie gave to 
the king 200 marks of gold,* two silver-hilted 
swords, six horses, with appertaining arms, four of 
them caparisoned. To every bishop he gave four 
marks of gold; to the two archbishops ten marks 
each ; to every abbot and abbess five. Moreover, 
to Archbishop Aelfric lie gave certain lands at 
Dumbleton, in Gloucestershire ; and from a state¬ 
ment in the Book of Abingdon, it appears that 
this last estate had been wrongfully taken from the 
church of Abingdon, in Berkshire, by Wulfrie’s 
predecessors. He constituted King Ethelred, and 
Aelfric, with Aelfhelme his brother, protectors of 
the abbey and its property. 

King Ethelred confirmed this donation in 1004, 
when he exempted the abbey and its dependencies 
from all exactions, duties, and services, except the 
irinoda necessitas , the erection of fortresses and 
bridges, the reparation of highways, and the repel¬ 
ling of invasions. Many of the places mentioned 
above, are not, however, named in the confirmation 
deed. The charter is signed by the king and his 
sons, Athelstan, Egbert, Edmund, Aedric, and Ed¬ 
gar. Also by the archbishops, ten bishops, twelve 

* Amounting to £750 
D 


32 


BURTON-UPOIN-TRENT. 


abbots, tliree dukes, twenty-one thanes * and others. 

DOMESDAY BOOK. 

The following copy from Domesday Book, which, 
as is well known, was compiled in the reign of Wil¬ 
liam the Conqueror, and about the year 1084 exhibits 
the whole value of the property belonging to Bur¬ 
ton Abbey at this period :— 

“ The abbey of St. Mary of Burtune hath in the 
town of Stafford one hide,t and a half. The arable 
land is two carucates £ wortli lxx shillings. 

In Branistone the said abbey holds one hide and 
half. The arable land v carucates, at xl shillings. 

In Withmere, with the appurtenances one hide 
and half. The arable land, vii carucates, valued at 
1 shillings. 

In Stratton one hide and half; arable land, two 
carucates, worth xl shillings. 

In Bromleye, with the appurtenances, half a 
hide. The arable land is one carucate, worth xx 
shillings. 

In Derlaveston iii virgates § of land. The arable 
land is two carucates, valued at xxx shillings. 

In Leigh iii virgates. The arable land is iii car¬ 
ucates, valued at xl shillings. 

In Acovere, with the appurtenances, iii virgates 
of land. The arable land, ii carucates, worth xx 
shillings. 

* Thane, a title of the Saxon nobility. + Hide, a measure of land, 
variously estimated at from 64 to 640 acres, * Carucate, 100 acres. 
\Virgate, also a measure of land, variously estimated. 


DOMESDAY BOOK. 


33 


In Witeston one hide. The arable land, one car- 
ucate, of the value of v shillings. 

In Bedinton half a hide. The arable land, ii car- 
ucates, valued at x shillings. 

Derbyshire.—In Derby, the abbey of Burton 
hath one mill, and one free farm, and two others, of 
which the king hath soc. # 

In Vfre (or Over) x carucates of land with ap¬ 
purtenances. The arable land, xv carucates, worth 
xl. To the soc of this manor belongeth vi caru¬ 
cates and two bovates.t 

In Appelby five carucates of arable land, worth 
iii pounds. 

In Wineshill, two carucates. The arable land, 
three carucates, valued at three pounds. 

In Cotes three carucates of land. The arable 
land, three carucates, worth xxx shillings. 

In Stapenhill four carucates and two bovates. 
The arable hand, four carucates, valued at three 
pounds. 

In Caldewall two carucates of land. The arable 
land, two carucates, worth xx shillings. 

King William gave Caldewalle to the monks for 
their own benefit. 

In Tickenhale they had v bovates of land and the 
third part of one bovate, valued at x shillings. 

In Warwickshire. Aldulvestre (now called 
Austrey) two hides and hal£ The arable land, four 
carucates, worth xxx shillings. 


*Soc, a tenure of land. iBovate, as much land as an ox can plough. 


34 


BURTON-UPOUf-TREFT. 


So that in Staffordshire they had eight hides, and 
nine virgates ; in Derbyshire xxvi carucates, vii bo- 
vates i ; in Ware wick shire two hides and a half.” 
The whole was then valued at 361. 15s. 


“About this time,” observes Shaw, “there was a 
great dispute between Robert de Ferrers, and Gieoffry 
abbot of Burton, concerning part of a wood between 
Balea and Watsaches Broc, extending through Stan- 
bruge, and Hinfold, and Merewey, claimed by the 
monks, &c. When at length the said Robert, 
struck with the fear of Glod, (as the deed expresses 
it,) and commanded by the king, he appointed him¬ 
self protector and friend of the church, and they 
granted to him the said wood for xx shillings per 
ann.; and he gave them permission to have two 
carts (bigas) in his wood, to draw themselves fire¬ 
wood of the dead wood in Nedwode. 

This agreement was first made in Tutesbyr-castle, 
and afterwards confirmed in the chapter of Burton ; 
testes Robertus, bishop of Chester, and William 
Peverell, whom the king sent to make this agree¬ 
ment, &c. This was afterwards confirmed by several 
charters of William earl de Ferrers, grandson of the 
above, who likewise grants them xx shillings rent 
out of his mill at Bartone. 

The bull of Pope Lucius III., dated September 
9, 1185, ordains that the order of St. Benedict be 
here for ever observed j and confirms all grants, 



BEQUESTS TO THE ABBEY. 


35 


made or to be made to it, reckoning up the particu¬ 
lars, of all that had been made to that time; and, 
gives a blessing to all those who should advance and 
preserve the same, and an imprecation upon all 
persons who should oiler any wrong to it. 

The following places are therein specified, viz:— 

“ Burthon , with the church, and all their appurte¬ 
nances ; the town of Branteston , Sobenhctl, the land 
of Tatenhille , Horniglowe , Straton , Withmere , 
Anseclelega ,; the town of Wineshull , Bersicote , 
TicJcenhale , Stapenhulle, Appelby, Aldulfestre , Calde- 
well; the land of TVulfrichest on; the town of 
Pilatehale; the town of Witestone; the town of 
Derlaveston , with all their appurtenances ; the town 
Bromley , with the church, and all their appurte¬ 
nances ; the town of Feld , and that of Leigh , with 
the church, and all appurtenances, of the gift of 
Widfric Spot the founder. 

Of the donation of William king of England, 
the town of Offrci, (i. e. Mickleover ,) with the 
church and all their appurtenances ; likewise Little 
Offra, with the chapel; the town of Wilenton , with 
its church; the church of St. Mary of Derby, with 
two mills, and land in that town; also the land of 
Henovre. Likewise, of the gift of the afosesaid, 
Wulfric Spot, Ylum with the church and all their 
appurtenances ; Acovre with its chapel; Cathesturne , 
and chapel of Blore with their appurtenances ; the 
chapel of Orendon with its appurtenances ; the 
chapel of Calfdon , the chapel of Scone , with all the 


36 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT. 




tithes; the tithes of Linton of that land belonging 
to the fee of Caldewell together with the tithes; 
also the tithe of Trueleigh , the tithe ot Mosedene, 
the tithe of Waterfale of that part called Haselboclie , 
with every third sheaf of the other part. The land 
which they hold in Stafford, the tithe of Neuton , 
the land of Sainton , the church of Stcvpehull with 
all appurtenances, viz : Drachelawe with the chapel, 
the chapel of Sefcote , (now probably Sarcourt 
near Greasley) together with the tithes, the chapel 
of Newliall with all the tithes, and all the tithes of 
Stanton. 

The liberties of this house w r ere confirmed by 
Henry I., king Stephen, Henry II., (who also 
granted them free warren), and Adeliza his queen, 
and others. Their liberties were also confirmed by 
the several charters of Robert and Roger bishops of 
Chester, and Walter, and Richard, bishops of 
Coventry. About the time of Henry III., Alan 
archdeacon of Stafford, A. de Stanes dean of Pire- 
hill, and A. de Jebbeseiahis successor, confirm their 
liberties. 

In a curious hundred-roll, time of Henry III., 
it is recorded “that the abbot of Burton (Lawrence) 
held in free alms, of the king, Burton, Horninglowe, 
Stretton, and Bromteston; and had at Burton a 
market, toll, fairs twice a year, and a free court in 
which he held plea of every thing, except that of 
forbidden distress; and had free warren, but not 
'known by what warrant ; also view of frankpledge ; 


TITHES. 


37 


and there were then in the said three villages, 
together with the villanage of Burton, six hides 
geldable, and paid per ann. to the sheriff one mark 
for view of frankpledge, and to the sheriff’s aid and 
Wakefeg one m^rk, and for the said six hides suit 
at the county and hundred courts by attorney ; and 
the said abbot from the 28 Henry III. attached to 
his free courts of Burton the aforesaid six geldable 
hides, of assise, viz. of bread, beer, and effusion of 
blood, whence the lord the king is indemnified for 
the said attachment 40s., viz. at half a marker ann. 

Be it known, likewise, that the said abbat took 
one waiff, viz. one brown steer, or stirk, worth 2s. 
anno 34, but it was not known by what warrant.” 

VALUATION EOR TITHES. 

“The valuation of Burton monastery as rated for a 
tenth to be paid to king Henry III. in the year 
1254. The manner of the taxation of the tenth for 
the use of the king, made by the bishop of Norwich, 
anno 1254. The immoveables of the parish church 
of Burton, taxed to the tenth for the use of our 
lord the king, by order of pope Innocent IY. 
excepting such as are in the hands of the king 
during the time of the vacancy. 

The church of Burton is worth 14 marks. 

The tenth deducted thence is 18s. 8d. 

The abbat answers for the one half 9s. 4d.. 

The sacrist for his part 4s. 4d. 

The cook for his part 5s. 

The revenue of the vestry assessed 5s. 


38 


BURTON-UPOjS-TRENT. 


The tenth thence deducted 6d. 

The goods of the kitchen worth 51. 5s. The tenth 
10s. 6d. 

The goods of the chamber 5 marks. The tenth 
6s. 8d. * 

The goods of the infirmary 2 marks. The tenth 
32d. 

The goods of the refectory 30d. The tenth 3d. 

The goods of the chantry 2s. The tenth 2d. ob. 

The goods of almonry 40s. The tenth 4s. 

The sum total 211. 14s. 6d. 

The sum of the tenth 43s. 5d. ob. 

The church of Ylum, with chapels, worth 10 
marks. The tenth thence deducted 1 mark. 

The kitchen answers for the half, viz. half a mark. 

The convent answers for 40d. 

The chamber answers for 40d. 

of Derby :— 

Item , for the church of Onfra 20s. The vicar of 
Onfra answers for a third part. For the church of 
Sapeh 1 mark. 

For the church of Broml. 16s. by the dean of 
Blithefeld. 

For Appelb. for all goods 14s. 8d. 

The tithe of Hampton 28d. 

This tithe was granted to the king by pope Inno¬ 
cent IY. to continue three years in this manner; 
and after his decease by pope Alexander IV. his 
successor fully confirmed.” 


In the deanery 


TITHES. 


39 


“ As they were in pope Alexander IV. time 1255, 
belonging to Burton. 

The whole revenue of the tenths of the abbey of 
Burton assessed 41. 19s. 

The whole of the tenths of corn and hay of the 
church of Burton 36s. 6d. 

Of apples 6d. 

Of geese, poultry, lambs and pigs, 6s. 8d. 

The whole of the tenth of the corn and hav in 
Stretton , 46s. 5d. 

The whole of the tenth of the corn and hay in 
Brontiston , 15s. ob. 

The whole of the tenth of the corn and hay in 
Winesham , 5s. 4d. 

The whole of the tenth of the corn and hay in 
Stapenhill, 25s. 9d. 

De literis ultra Donnam. 

The whole of the tenths of corn and hay of the 
church belonging to the abbots beyond the Dove, 
43s. 3d. 

The whole of Aldulnestre , 34s. 9^d. 

The whole of Appelby , 18s. 

The whole of Bromil ., 7s. 9|d. 

The sum total of the abbot, 161. 8s. Id. 

The whole of the decimation of the tithe hay in 
the parish of Burton , 4s. 

Of the chantry, 8d. ob. Of Andresey , lid. 

Of the sacrist, 1 mark. Of the chamber 2 marks, 
8s. 9d. Of the infirmary, 40d. Of the allmonry, 
4s. Of the refectory, 2d. ob. Of the garden, 12d. 






40 


BURTOK-UPON-TRENT. 


Of the garment, 4s. Of the anniversary, 5s. Of 
the kitchen, 5 marks 8s. 3d. ob. 

The whole of the obediences, 81. 6s. Id. 

The sum total, 241. 14s. lid. 

This decimation was made under a punishment of 
excommunication ; and a similar one was then made 
throughout England.” 

Tlius by these extensive endowments was this im¬ 
portant establishment raised to opulence and power. 

In a view, engraved by Hollar, this building is 
represented as a magnificent pile of Saxon and 
Gothic architecture. The dimensions of the church 
appear to have been, 228 feet in length, and 52 in 
breadth, the walls being five feet thick, having a 
tower at each end. The cloisters adjoining to this 
church were 100 feet square, and next to these was 
the fraytor, or common hall, 96 feet in length and 
30 in breadth. On the East side of this spacious 
apartment was the dortor or dormitory, 100 feet in 
length and 10 in breadth, with various other cham¬ 
bers adjoining. On the west side of the cloisters 
were three chambers, used for various purposes by 
the abbot. 

Shaw states that he found amongst the records 
of Beaudesert, the plan of the Abbey, which is 
copied on the opposite page. Although the plan 
does not exactly agree with the sketch by Hollar, 
it is probably correct in the most important partic¬ 
ulars. 



REMAINS OE THE ABBEY. 


41 


This once proud and massive structure, which for 
extent and opulence was celebrated through all the 
surrounding country, is nothing now hut a “ relic of 
the mighty pastits cloisters no more paced by 
superstitious monks, moving in solemn procession 
along its pillared courts and long-drawn aisles:— 

“ The wreck alone, that marks its deep decay, 

Now tells of all its former fame.” 

The remains of the entrance gate and porter’s 
lodge, still exist opposite the end of New Street, 
and are now used as a blacksmith’s shop. Over this 
gate was once a fine archway of stone, similar to one - 
at the entrance to the school yard at Hep ton. This 
gateway displays marks of skill and elegance in its 
construction. Indeed there can be little doubt, but 
in its palmy days, the abbey of Burton exhibited 
equal architectural magnificence with many of those 
monastic buildings, whose more extensive remains 
still exist in various parts of the kingdom. 

Besides the entrance gate, there remains, in the 
mansion called “ the Abbey,” and close by the Trent, 
the outlines of an ancient window. The ornaments 
are almost wholly obliterated, and the window itself 
filled up with bricks and mortar. The building to 
which this window belonged, is supposed by Shaw, 
to have been detached from the rest of the monas¬ 
tery, and to have been the abbot’s private residence. 

The various buildings of the Abbey covered several 
acres of ground, and were enclosed with extensive 


42 


BTJRTON-UPON-TRENT. 


gardens; the walls of these gardens remain to the 
present day. 

The venerable church of St. Modwen was standing 
at the commencement of the last century, and had 
it not been so shattered by the civil wars, would 
have stood many years longer. The roof was at 
that period blown off and the windows destroyed 
by the explosion of two barrels of gunpowder, de¬ 
posited within the building. After remaining in 
a dilapidated condition for a considerable period, 
this once noble edifice was entirely removed, and 
the present parish church erected. This occurred 
about seven hundred years from the date of its 
foundation. 

In Erdeswick’s survey of the county in 1590, is 
the following account of the church and a monu¬ 
ment therein. 

“ In that part of the church which I think then 
belonged to the parish, (for it is now used as the 
parish church, but joins unto the decayed abbey 
church which seems to have been a very goodly one 
for the ruins be very large), there lies a monument, 
which whether it were ever in the same place it 
now lieth, or removed out of the part that is de¬ 
cayed, I stand in doubt, for it lieth close to the new 
wall, that now divides the church from the ruins, 
and is so broke and defaced, that one would think 
it had been removed. Which monument the com¬ 
mon fame (of the unskillfull) reports to haye been 
the tomb of the first founder Wulfricus Spott, and 


ABBEY CHURCH, 


43 


that cannot in any wise be so, for being of alabaster 
it is fashioned both for armour, shield, and all other 
things, something like our new monuments, so Ed¬ 
ward III, time is the oldest it can possible be; and 
a man would rather by the shield (for it is square 
at both ends, and flourished with gold both above 
and beneath, as the Londoners set out shields in 
their pageants) think it were of Edward IV. or 
Henry VII. time ; and yet I can by no means learn 
whose it should be, and writing there is none; the 
shield is of gold, and a blue cross engrayled, charged 
with five mullets silver thereon. If it be indeed 
the founder’s shield as it may be, fori have seen the 
coat well and old in other places, both of the church 
and town, then did some of the abbots of late make 
this monument new in respect of some old one that 
was decayed, as it might be they did. Eor 
the monks were very carefull to set out gay things 
for their founders, to the end it might be thought, 
they were not unmindfull of good men which were 
their benefactors. But surely I rather conjecture 
it was made for some benefactor of theirs that had 
lived in later time than Wulfricus Spott.” 


E 


% 


44 


'ismttVlJf/ij ! .;! i , JJECivI 

THE ABBOTS OF BURTON. 

The following history of the Abbots of Burton, is 
translated by Shaw, from Dugdale’s Monasticon. In 
this work we learn that the abbot, though not mi¬ 
tred, sometimes enjoyed the privilege of a seat in 
parliament, and that the whole number of abbots 
from the foundation to the dissolution, was thirty- 
five. 

Wulgetus, a monk of Winchester, was constitu¬ 
ted the first abbot in 1004, he presided twenty-two 
years, and died in 1026, in the reign of Canute. 
He was a great benefactor by acquiring lands for 
this convent, viz. lands at Wetmore, for £70 in gold 
and silver, and Bolleston in exchange for Alseworth, 
and Alfordington, which were a great way from the 
monastery. 

Bretericus, a monk of Winchester, succeeded 
him, and procured Willington with the church, and 
Stapenhill with its church, and having governed 
twenty-four years, died on Saturday, the 12th of 
May, 1050. in the time of Edward the Confessor. 

Lewricus,. also a monk of Winchester, governed 
thirty-five years. He spoiled the rich shrine of St. 
Modwen to feed the poor, because there was then a 
great famine, for which the Lord took revenge , as the 
miracles of the said virgin set forth. In his time 

4 . 

William the Conqueror gave lands to this abbey, 
viz. Over, Findern, Henovcr, Potlock, St. Mary’s 
Church, Derby ; and two mills and twelve acres of 


THE ABBOTS. 


45 


land there, in lieu of others which he had injuriously 
taken away. 

Geoffry be Malaterra, or Evilearth, a monk 
also of Winchester, who, after nine years govern¬ 
ment, was expelled for misapplying the conventual 
revenues, in 1194. 

Nigellus, a monk and sacrist of Winchester, in¬ 
stituted in his stead. Soon after his election the 
new work in the west part of the church was begun. 
Also in his time happened that miracle, or revenge, 
unto the keeper of the woods of the lord of Tutbury, 
of the loss of his eyes. He governed twenty years, 
and died on the 6th of May, 1114, and was succeed¬ 
ed by 

Geoffry, monk and prior of Winchester, who 
enjoyed this dignity thirty-six years, and resigned in 
1150, and died in the year following. He built an 
elegant belfry over the choir, and covered it with 
lead. 

Robert, a monk also of Winchester, who held 
this office nine years, and was expelled for alienating 
the conventual revenues, 1159. 

Barnard, first monk of Glastonbury, then abbot 
of Cerne, presided sixteen years, and died on the 
4th of February, 1175. After his death, Robert 
was reinstated in this office, and died in 1177. 

Roger Malebraunch, prior of Great Malvern, 
succeeded; he died on the 2nd of May, 1182. 

Richard, prior of Rochester, who died in 1188, 
and was succeeded by 


46 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT. 


Nicholas, prior of Abingdon, who having presi¬ 
ded over this monastery nine years, died on the 8th 
of December, 1197, and was buried before St. Mod- 
wen’s altar. He was a great benefactor to the 
chamber and kitchen. 

William Melburne, a monk of Reading, presi¬ 
ded sixteen years, and died the 8th of August 1213. 
He built that part of Burton which is called Hor- 
ninglow Street, which he granted to the burgesses 
of Burton, and first obtained a market and fair for 
them. He was a great benefactor to this monastery 
by adding to the revenues of the same; amongst 
other things he gave xiid. out of the burgage of 
Robert le Wariede, annually to the support of one 
lamp before the altar of the holy cross. To the 
chapel of St. Modwen in Andressey, he gave also 
xii d.; likewise he gave to the kitchen, the mill of 
Siwardmore, and 18s. to the chamber, and xii d. to 
the lamp before the cross, and xs. at his death. 

Roger, a monk of Normandy, governed five years, 
and died on the 18th of October, 1218. He gave a 
virgate of land to the kitchen. 

Nicholas he Wallingford, a monk and prior 
of this house, who had the care of it four years be¬ 
fore his election to the abbacy. He died in 1225. 

Richard de Lisle, prior of St. Edmundsbury, 
was the next abbot, who, by his charter dated 1226, 
grants to the support of the kitchen, the mills upon 
the Trent between Burton and Drakelow, also the 
mill of Stretton-upon-the-Dove, or in lieu of them 


THE ABBOTS. 


47 


14 marks per annum, to be paid out of divers 
churches and houses as specified in the charter. He 
presided six years, and at length was preferred to 
the abbacy of St. Edmundsbury. 

Lawrence, a monk of this house, was installed 
upon the second festival of St. Modwen, by a brother 
John de Stretton, the prior of this house, and Nich¬ 
olas, sub-prior. He died on the 6th of July, 1260, 
and was buried between the altar of the martyrs, 
and the Virgin Mary’s chapel. He was a benefac¬ 
tor to this monastery by adding to its revenues, and 
building a stone house near the church, for a recep¬ 
tacle for the poor. In his time was St. Mary’s 
chapel begun to be built; and there were then in 
this convent, thirty monks. 

John Stafford, monk and prior of this house, 
held the charge twenty years, and resigned on the 
19th of February, 1280, in the 60tli year of his 
being a monk. He died the 7th of March following, 
and was buried in the middle of St. Mary’s chapel, 
near the high altar. The said John Stafford was 
born at Stretton, in this parish, and besides building 
Monk’s bridge, was a great benefactor. The rent 
of the town of Burton in his time was xii 1. vi s. i d. 

Thomas Packinoton, a monk and prior of this 
house. He presided twenty-six years, and died in 
1305, and was buried in the middle of the choir, be¬ 
fore the high altar. During his government the 
chancel of the chapel of St. Mary was new-built. In 

the sixth year of his abbacy was a great famine. He 

e 2 


48 


BURTON-UPON-TREfrT. 


built Cat Street, through the middle of Srwarmoor 
to Icknield Street. 

John Piscator, alias Stapenhull, a monk ol this 
house, who governed eleven years, and died on the 
8th of July, 1316, and was buried on the right hand 
of abbot Thomas. In the first year of his govern¬ 
ment, the high altar was dedicated, and those of the 
apostles and martyrs. He made the long building 
near the abbey gates, and the structure between the 
belfry and sacristy. 

William Bromley, a monk also and cellarer ol 
this house, who presided thirteen years, and died in 
1329, and was buried under a free-stone before the 
high altar, on the left of abbot Thomas. He was a 
great benefactor to this convent in building several 
of their houses. He built the great hall near the 
water of le Flete, and dove-cote in le pole yerd , and 
great granary in Stapenhill, and gave to this con¬ 
vent that long edifice near the abbey gates, and the 
islands beyond the upper mill, and five days ad san¬ 
guinis immunitionem, from mid-day of the sabbath to 
evening prayers on Wednesday, in that enclosed 
part of the park of Shobnall, with an augmentation 
of bread and beer beyond the usual corrody. 

Robert Longdone, first a monk of this convent, 
then prior of Tutbury; he presided near twelve 
years, and died on Wednesday, the 4th of March, 
1340, and was buried under an arch between the 
altar of the apostles and confessors. He built the 
confessor’s chapel, and made the fine carved work 


THE ABBOTS. 


49 


there, and built the chapter-house from the ground 
to the middle, &c. 

Robert Brickhttll, a monk and cellarer of this 
convent, who presided eight years, and died August 
the 18th, 1348, and was buried under a marble 
stone, in the upper chancel before the high altar; 
he finished the chapter-house, a building of elegant 
workmanship, and made the great window above the 
high altar, also a large barn and dove-cot, with other 
buildings at Shobnall, &c., and was otherwise a con¬ 
siderable benefactor to this house; likewise in his 
time, Robert Stapenhull, a brother, gave to this 
convent a fulling-mill and two houses, one formerly 
belonging to Robert de Parco, and the other to 
Richard de Asheburne ; this abbot died on the sab¬ 
bath day, and was buried under the lower arch, 
near the altar of the apostles and confessors. 

Johh Ibstoke, monk and almoner of this con¬ 
vent, presided eighteen years, and died on Monday, 
the 5th of October, 1366, and was buried before the 
high altar, on the right hand of his predecessor, 
Brickhull. While almoner, he built the high edi¬ 
fice in the market place, called Garesses , and the 
north side of the parochial church, and the abbot’s 
lesser chamber, between the great hall and the out¬ 
ward room ; he also obtained half the manor of 
Caldwell, the bell-house, orchard, &c. 

Thomas Southam, a monk of this convent and 
abbot’s chaplain, resigned the dignity before All 
Saints day, 1400, and died the 3rd of April, 1401, 


50 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT, 


and was buried in the Martyr’s chapel; he w r as a 
benefactor to this convent, as was John Sudbury, 
sacrist here ; he new-cast three of the greatest bells 
in the lower tower, and gave to the high altar a sil¬ 
ver crucifix with three images thereon, and a chalice 
witli a crucifix for the foot of it, 

John Sudbury, monk and sacrist of this convent, 
held the dignity 24 years, and resigned on Tuesday, 
the 14th of January, 1424, and died the year fol¬ 
lowing, the 2nd of September, 1425, and was buried 
in the middle of the confessor’s chapel, before the 
altar. In his younger days, while subsacrist, he 
wrote a great book, which he gave to the convent 
while he was abbot, and procured the rectory of 
Allestrey ; also in his time, Richard Creyton, sacrist, 
made the lattice-work and new roofed the lower 
part of the church; and John Babe, prior and sac¬ 
rist, made the new stone work of the belfry in the 
upper part of the church, and new stalls in choir, 
and St. Modwen’s shrine. 

W illiam Matthew, monk and almoner of this 
abbey, succeeded, and after six years continuance in 
this station resigned the same on Holy-rood day, 
September 14th, 1430, and died the 6th of October, 
following, and was buried in St. Mary’s Chapel, un¬ 
der an ordinary stone, above the step, near the seat 
in the wall. On the 7th of March, in the fourth year 
of his government, he laid the first stone of the 
south gate of the abbey, and in the year following 
the upper part of the town was paved and the 


THE ABBOTS. 


51 


causeway made before the abbey gates. 

Robert Ousby, monk of St. Albans, preferred 
hither on St. Edmund’s day, by the favour of Wil¬ 
liam Heyworth, bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, 
having been his chaplain ; after two years enjoy¬ 
ment of this office he surrendered the same on Sat¬ 
urday, the 9th of February, 1432. In his time, the 
3rd of March, 1430, the first stone of the new' 
cloister was laid, and finished the same year, on 
Wednesday the 2nd of September following ; as 
was also the stone conduit-house begun in the 
market, near the Garetts. 

Ralph Henley, a monk of this house, who after 
twenty-two years enjoyment of this office, resigned 
on Monday the 6th of March, 1454. He was buried 
in the north side of the cloister; he built the north 
gates of the abbey, and made the winter-hall and 
guest-stable ; in his time the belfry in the lower 
part of the church was finished, and a bell put in 
the same ; in the fourteenth year of his prefecture 
died William Heyworth, bishop of Coventry and 
Lichfield; who gave to this monastery £40 to the 
building the cloister, £20 for copes, two silver ew¬ 
ers, tw r o candlesticks, and the great censer for 
incense of silver, and forty marks for the building 
of two tenements in the town. 

William Branston, a monk and cellarer of this 
house, was abbot here eighteen years, he died 
March 7, 1472, and was sumptuously buried in St, 
Mary’s Chapel, under a marble tomb, He added 


52 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT. 


greatly to the revenues of this house, and gave six 
pieces of cloth of silver and gold to this house; he 
also procured an exemption from serving as Sheriff 
of Staffordshire. 

Thomas Feylde, a monk of this house, presided 
twenty years, and died the 2nd of July, 1493, and 
was buried in the area near the porch-door. In his 
time, 1474, the upper belfry of the church fell, and 
did considerable damage to this church; accordingly 
the year following he new built the roof thereof, re¬ 
paired the v r alls, and rebuilt one of the pillars, near 
the choir on the north side ; and made the arch, 
dividing the upper from the low r er part of the church, 
and new-built the belfry, and erected the high altar 
(making steps to ascend to it), and richly adorned 
the same with fine w r ainscot. He rebuilt the chapel 
of St. Modwen, in Andresey, and erected the great 
hall in the market. He built the abbot’s chamber, 
and other edifices in this abbey, to which he was 
otlierways no small benefactor. 

William Fleigh, a monk of this house, having 
the charge of the kitchen; he presided nine years, 
and died on the 14th of May, 1502, and w r as buried 
under a marble stone at the north end of the choir. 
He w r as esteemed a virtuous and good man, fond 
rather of a contemplative than an active life. 

William Beyne, monk and prior of this house, 
w r ho governed tw r enty-three years, and died 1525. 

John Boston, of whose death no account is to- 
be met with. 


DISSOLUTION OF THE ABBEY. 


53 


One Thomas, who was abbot of this bouse at the 
convocation held in 1533. 

The thirty-fifth and last abbot was Richard Edys, 
who surrendered this abbey at the dissolution, on 
the 4th of November, 1540.” 

The reign of Henry VIII., so celebrated for the 
support and overthrow of the papal domination in 
this country, and so memorable for the encourage¬ 
ment and dissolution of monastic institutions, com¬ 
menced with learned and eloquent defences of the 
Romish church from the royal pen, and closed with 
fierce and destructive attacks on this religion, sanc¬ 
tioned by edicts from the same royal hand. At this 
eventful period, no fewer than six hundred and forty- 
five monasteries, (amongst which was the institution 
now under notice) were broken up, and wholly or 
in part destroyed; the revenues being seized for 
the use of the crown, or distributed to court favour¬ 
ites, or to those most zealously employed in the 
work of destruction. 

The last abbot, Richard Edys, having quietly given 
up possesion of the abbey to the royal commission¬ 
ers, the king immediately erected it into a collegi¬ 
ate church, dedicated to Christ and St. Mary, to 
consist of a dean and four prebends, and endowed 
the same with the manor of Burton and other pos¬ 
sessions. He constituted William Edys first dean 
and John Rudde, B. D., James Townley, Robert 
Moore, and Roger Bull, first prebendaries. In 1543, 



54 


BURTON-rPON-TRElSfT. 


however, the dean and prebendaries, by their deed 
enrolled in chancery, surrendered the church and 
all their lands to the king, who suppressed it. 
It was then valued at £267 14s. 3d. per an. according 
to Dugdale; and £356 16s. 3d. according to Speed. 
On the record in the First Fruits office, the whole 
valuation of this monastery is £501 7s. and after 
£89 Os. 2d. reprises were deducted, there remained 
clear £412 6s. lOd. The dean and chapter were 
required by their charter to lay out more in alms, 
and in repairing the highways. 

The common seal of the dean and chapter is con¬ 
sidered by antiquaries to be a most beautiful speci¬ 
men of engraving; it represents our Saviour and his 
disciples, at the last supper, with the arms of Wul- 
fric Spot, the founder of the Abbey, at the bottom; 
and round the margin is the following inscription 
in Latin, “ the common seal of the dean and chapter 
of the collegiate church of Burton-upon-Trent.” 

“ In January following, the king granted the 
manor of Burton, and the manors of Branston, 
Stretton, Horninglow, Wetmore, and Annesley, in 
this county, &c. to Sir William Paget, his secretary, 
who was created baron of Beaudesert, 1550, and 
died, 1563, possessed of the site of this lately dis¬ 
solved college and manor, with appurtenances, viz. 
Burton-upon-Trent, Bond End, Annesley, Shobnal 
grange, Burton Rectory, Ac., which was held of the 
the queen in capite, by service of the twentieth 
part of a knight’s fee, and valued at £154. 8s. 7d. 





















/ 




. 

Ml ■ . 












The opposite Engraving- represents the remains of a Doorw ay, 
recently discovered in the Abbey Grounds. The stone carved work 
of this relic is of an elaborate description, and is said to be 
unsurpassed by anything of its kind in the kingdom. 

There is no means of ascertaining to what particular building 
this doorw ay belonged. It is thought, however, not to have been 
the entrance of the Abbey Church, but of some chapel connected 
with the Abbey. The date is probably the 14th century. 

The Abbey Grounds have recently been examined by exca¬ 
vation, and many remains of the building have been discovered, all 
of which lead to the conclusion that Burton Abbey was one of the 
most extensive and beautiful monastic erections of a former age, 
—It may be added that these discoveries increase the uncer¬ 
tainty, as to the accuracy of the Plan and View of the Abbey, 
given on page 23 of this History, copied from Dugdale and Shaw. 

February , 1848. 


/ 



Ancient Doorway, Abbey Grounds, Burton-upon-Trent. 









































































































































































































































































ABBEY PROPERTY. 


55 


per ann., also the manors of Whittington, Branston, 
Stretton, Horninglow, and Wetmore, with appur¬ 
tenances, held of the same queen in capite, by the 
same service, and valued at £103. Is. 6d. 


The possessions have remained in this family 
down to the present proprietor, the most noble the 
Marquis of Anglesea. 


“Anno 1553, here remained in charge £3. 6s. 8d. 
in fees ; £52. 13s. 4d. in annuities, and the following 
pensions to the late possessors of the abbey property, 
viz. to John Rudde £15, Roger Bull £13, Robert 
Brocke alias Brooke, John Jermy alias Heron £6 
13s. 4d. each ; William Fysher £6, William Symonds 
£5, and to Humfry Cotton £2. 

“ There also remained the same year in charge the 
following pensions to some of the late incumbents 
of this collegiate church, viz. to Robert More, pre¬ 
bendary £16, John Carter, a canon £6, William 
Sutton, a minor canon £6, and William Hether, 
epistle-reader £5.” 

Amongst the records in the Augmentation-office 
it is certified, “ that several persons by their deeds 
enfeoffed several parcels of lands and tenements, to 
the intent that the whole yearly profits thereof 
should be annually employed for ever towards the 
maintenance of the brotherhood-priests in Burton 
church, to be prayed for, for ever by them. Yearly 
value lvs. viiid. reprises iiiis. id. remaineth lis. viid.” 

The following particulars are from the curious 


F 


56 


BUKTOISf-UPOlS-TEENT. 


rental of Sir William Paget, made in tlie reign of 
Edward VI.:— 

“ Farm of the manor or tenement called the 
Kitcheners Barnes, and a dove-cot with all the lands 
thereto belonging, let to John Wateson, by inden¬ 
ture, under the seal of William Paget, knt. the 7th 
of July, in the 38 Henry VIII. to be held to him¬ 
self, his wife Emmott and Hugh his son, for term of 
life, at xxvis. viiid. per ann. and to find annually one 
sufficient bull for the town of Burton, and give one 
fat lamb to the lord of the manor, &c.” 

The mills, called Burton Mills, were let to Robert 
Tove, for £26 per ann. 

The free tenants were then fifty-seven in number 
worth xil. viiis. iid. 

And the whole Rental clear per ann. was £130 
19s. 4^d. After paying a fee to John Moreley, 
bailiff of Burton of £6. 

The curate’s stipend £10, the priest’s £7, the 
deacon’s £4, the clerk 40s. And for wax and oil 
and other expenses in the church £6. The tithes 
are stated to be of the value of £138 5s. 4d. 

“These tithes” Shaw observes, (1796) “are now 
worth, at least, £1500 per ann. And the Burton 
estates altogether, if the houses in the town were 
let to the best advantage, and not on leases for lives 
as at present, would produce a clear rental of 
£ 10 , 000 .” 



Burton Bridge, 
















57 


THE BRIDGE. 


This venerable structure, probably the oldest 
bridge in England, is said by Erdeswick, to have 
been erected in the time of Bernard, abbot of Bur¬ 
ton, in the reign of Henry II., about 1175. In 
proof of this statement, he has thus cited from an 
ancient document: “ One William-de-la-Warde, in 
the time of the above abbot, dedit terrain ponti de 
Burton, 6 denarios annuatim sibi et heredibus suis 
imperpetuam, &c. The later historian, Shaw, how¬ 
ever, questions the probability of Erdeswick’s state¬ 
ment, and with evident reason, for he says, “ If 
Willliam-de-la-Warde gave land to the bridge, as 
here mentioned, it is plain the bridge was then in 
being.” 

The above gift being in land, out of which an ack¬ 
nowledgement was to be paid to the donor’s family, 
proves very clearly, that the donation must have 
been for the repair, and not for the erection of the 
bridge. Indeed it is highly probable that at this 
period the bridge might require repair. Another 
proof of its existence previous to this date, is 
derived from the fact that Robert de Brislingcote, 
“ gave one acre of land in prato de Burscote juxta 
Trent, pro fabrica pontis de Burtonbeing an evi- 



58 


BTJRTON-UPON-TREIST. 


dence of its previous existence. The probability 
therefore is, that the bridge of Burton was erected 
about the time of the Norman conquest, almost 
eight hundred years since. 

This bridge has evidently undergone a variety of 
repairs and alterations during the long period since 
its original foundation. The estimation in which it 
was held as a means of communication, will appear 
from the numerous grants and benefactions, which 
were from time to time bestowed for its mainte¬ 
nance. The original documents are quoted by nume¬ 
rous antiquaries. 

Previous to the dissolution of Burton abbey, the 
bridge was entirely supported by grants and volun¬ 
tary contributions : this will appear from several 
curious documents granted by the abbots, appointing 
proctors and bailiffs “ to haw the care of the seyd 
brigge for a terme of yeres.” 

The first of this kind, is a beautifully illuminated 
deed, bearing date, August 24th, 1441, in which 
Ralph, Abbot of Burton, Sir Thomas Gresley, and 
others, grant to William Shopinlialle of this parish, 
the office of keeper and overseer of this bridge, for 
thirty years, having entire authority in repairing 
the same, it being at this time in a ruinous condi¬ 
tion. 

In 1493, Roger de Huncedon, by a charter, grants 
“ to God and the support of the bridge, for the 
health of his soul and that of his ancestors and suc¬ 
cessors, one acre of arable land, viz., that which 


THE BRIDGE. 


59 


belonged to Nicholas le Lomp, extending towards 
the mill of the More, between the land of Walter 
de Scobenhall, and that of Richard le Lomp.” 

Alice Bolde, of Burton-upon-Trent, by her will 
dated October 2nd 1426, amongst other things, be¬ 
queathed to this bridge, “ duo chocharia argentia, 
item duo cocharia argentia ad sustentationem symbe 
de Stapenhylle.” 

The next document relating to this interesting 
bridge is curious and amusing, and is quoted at full 
length below ; the date of its execution is 1529. 

“ 2T0 all true Xteu pcple to whom thys present 
wry ting shall come. Willm. by the provydence of 
God, abbott of the monastery of Burton-upon-Trent, 
John, pryor of the monastery of Repyngdon, John, 
pryor of the monastery of Tutbury, G-eorge, lorde 
Hastyngyes, sir Richard Sacheverll, knight, sir Wal¬ 
ter Gryffyth, knight, sir Anthony Fitzherbert, 
knight, one of the kyngys justyces of his comen 
place, sir John Porte, knight, on’ of the kyngs jus¬ 
tyces of hys benche, George Greyseley, esquyer, 
Humffrey Ferrers, esquyer, Thomas Curson, esqu¬ 
yer, George Fynderne, esquyer, Thomas Dethycke, 
esquyer, John Stanley, gentylman, bayliff of Burton, 
Thomas Walker and Willm. Morekok, of the same, 
sende gretyng in oure Lorde everlastyng. And for 
somyeh as it ys merytorious for ev’y Xpen man to 
indeus hymselffe to helpe to preffer works of marcy 
for the increassyng of vertue and health of xpen 

r 2 


60 


BURTOF-U PON-TRENT. 


peple, whereby almyghty God may be pleased affore 
whom every gode dede shall be rewarded to the 
helth and comforth of manys soul, We therefore, 
the seyd abbott, pryours, lorde Hastyngs, knyghtys, 
esquyers, with all other above specyffyed, notyffye 
unto your audyence, that wher’ there ys att Burton 
beforeseyd, a brigge of grett length with many 
arches goyng over the water of Trent, which ys a 
comen passage to and fro many counteys to the gret 
releff and comforth of travellyng peple, and to the 
cuntreys thereabowte. And so yt ys that the seyd 
brigge is of olde fundacon, and now of late dayes by 
the occasion of grett floddys and waters is greatly 
decayed, for somych as dyverse arches thereof be 
lately decayed and wasted away in the water, to the 
grett joperdye and trowble of all travellyng peple 
that go and ryde thereupon. And the seyd brigge 
hath nother rents nor annuites for the supportacon 
of the same, but only by the devocon and almes 
dedys of well disposed cryston peple, wythoute the 
contynuance wherof the seyd brygge ys lyke utterly 
to be decayed and forlett. And for as mych as 
Willm Haryson, now proctor, lymytted to be of the 
same, of his good and diligent mynd, hath full well 
endevored himselffe to the helpyng and makyng of 
the seyd brigge in dyverse places of the same, which 
were and yett be in grett joperdye, to hys greytt 
and importable charges without© the helpe and 
almes dedis of weldisposed xpen peple to him be 
showed in that behalffe. We therefore the seyd 


THE BRIDGE. 


61 


abbott, priours, lorde Hastings, knyght, esquyers,. 
with all other above specyffyed, in the way of 
charyte, exorte, move, and reqnere all goode xpen 
peple, which thys our present wrytyng shall here or 
se, to helpe and gyff your charytable alines to the 
seid proctor, or his depute, this bring. Wherby ye 
may deserve the grett reward of Almighty Grod, to 
the helthe and comfort of your owne soules, and our 
full hertye tliankys. In wytnesse wherof we the 
seid abbott, priours, lorde Hastyngys, knightys, 
esquyers, and all other above named, to this oure 
present writyng seyverally have sette our seylys, the 
xxiiith day of the monyth of May, in the xxth yere 
of the reyne of our soverayne lorde kyng Henry the 

yin.” 

When the grant of the abbey lands was made to 
the Paget family at the dissolution, it was enjoined 
that they should repair the bridge at Burton, “ at all 
times in future,” although no land or estate was 
allotted for that particular purpose. 

In its present state, Burton bridge is more admi¬ 
red by the antiquary than by the traveller: for al¬ 
though it continues as anciently to be, “ a comen 
passage to and fro many counteys,” it cannot now 
be said to be for the “comforth of travellyn peple,” 
whether equestrian or otherwise. Prom the nar¬ 
rowness of the road, it is insufficient for the consi¬ 
derable traffic passing over it, and frequent stoppages 
and accidents occur. 

The bridge is built of ashler stone, supposed to 


02 


BUETON-UPON-TRENT. 


have been dug from a quarry on the Derbyshire side 
of the river, about a mile below. Its length is 
fifteen hundred and forty-five feet, and comprises 
thirty-six arches. This great length is occasioned 
by the diversion of the river into two channels, each 
of considerable magnitude, and flowing at some dis¬ 
tance from each other. The form of this bridge is 
singular, as on the Derbyshire side, it deviates from 
the usual straight line, in a curve inclining to the 
south-east. 

At the west end of the bridge, adjoining the town, 
formerly stood a chapel, a few stones of which may 
be seen in the foundations of a house on the site. 
There are many similar instances of chapels on 
bridges in this country, generally built in commem¬ 
oration of some victory. It is probable, therefore, 
that the one on Burton bridge was erected in con¬ 
sequence of the success which Edward II. obtained 
over the barons, after they had prevented his pas¬ 
sing over this bridge. Or possibly it was erected 
for the purpose of celebrating mass for the repair of 
the bridge, which, as before shown, was originally 
supported by alms and voluntary contributions. 

In the Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. XXI. the fol¬ 
lowing incident is related in connection with Burton 
bridge. 

“ As a countess of Ferrers, was passing in her 
coach, the leading horses leaped over the parapet on 
one side of this bridge; but the wheel horses fixing 
their feet firmly against the stone-work, kept the 


THE BBIDGKE. 


63 


coach bach, till the harness which held up the other 
horses was cut, when they dropped into the river 
and w r ere drowned. Her ladyship, believing she 
owed her life to the wheel horses, kept them after^ 
wards without work as long as they could livef ’ 


64 


PBESENT CONDITION OF THE TOWN. 


Burton is situated in the rich valley of the Trent, 
on the eastern border of the County of Stafford, 
and in the hundred* of Offlow. It is in 52 deg. 53 
min. N. Latitude, and 1 deg. 35 min. W. Longi¬ 
tude. It is distant from London, by railway, 129 
miles, by road, 125 miles ; from Birmingham, 30 
miles ; Leicester, 26 miles ; Nottingham, 25 miles ; 
Stafford, 24 miles ; Derby, 11 miles; Lichfield, 12 
miles ; and Ashby-de-la-Zoucli, 9 miles. 

The parish is extensive, containing several distinct 
townships, and upwards of ten thousand acres of 
land, a portion of which is included in the county of 
Derby. The east and west sides are hilly, the centre 
is a fine champaign district, forming rich pastures, 
which, in the rainy seasons, are often flooded by the 
waters of the Trent and Dove: the latter river 
bounds the parish on the north. 

Although the surrounding scenery presents no 
very remarkable features, it is generally pleasing, 
being diversified with gentle hills, fruitful fields and 
verdant meadows. The banks of the Trent are 
adorned with a succession of eminences of moderate 
elevation, which are, in many parts, gracefully 
clothed with flourishing woods and plantations: 










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mmu'uimUH. [Hi 


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...i! 1 11 i^\un 11 m\\ 1 um\ 1,1 mu 11 .ai inn 




^M|RV^nv»n|W# 






1 n\’"’mvT 




»flW''TO'S ( THW 


0(f Of 




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Jjillislujl l>y W m Wesley, High Sf fhrrtvmjpons Trent 
















































































































































































































































PRESENT CONDITION. 


65 


these, with “the silver Trent,” contribute greatly to 
the beauty of the prospect. 

The town of Burton extends into the township of 
Burton-extra, or as it is more frequently called Bond 
End, and includes the greater part of the population 
of that township. It has one principal thorough¬ 
fare, extending under different appellations, about a 
mile and a half, from N. to S., with several spacious 
streets uniting at right angles. The following are 
the names of the principal streets ;—High Street, 
Horninglow Street, New Street, Station Street, 
Bridge Street, Lichfield Street, Market Place, Bond 
End, Anderstaff Lane, with several others of inferior 
note. During the last thirty years the aspect of 
the town has been greatly improved : many ancient 
houses have been rebuilt, and many new ones erected 
in the suburbs; the whole exhibiting an aspect of 
substantial prosperity. 

The High Street contains the principal shops and 
places of business, several of which are substantial 
and elegant in appearance. Those who remember 
the condition of this street a few years since, with¬ 
out flagged footways, and with a rough ill-paved 
road, will duly estimate its present excellent condi¬ 
tion. The paved footways were laid in 1838: the 
unsightly and disagreeable paving stones were re¬ 
moved in 1844, when the present excellent road was 
substituted. 

Previous to the year 1778, the town of Burton 
was neither paved nor lighted, nor had it suitable 



06 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT, 


drainage of any kind. The centre of High Street 
was so low, that it formed a rivulet for the water 
and filth from the houses, and at intervals stepping 
stones were placed, to enable persons to cross. In 
the above year application was made to Parliament 
for an Act, entitled “ An Act for Paving, Repairing, 
Cleansing and Lighting the Tow~n and Borough of 
Burton-upon-Trent, in the County of Stafford, and 
for removing and preventing annoyances therein.” 

Immediately after the passing of this act, the 
street was raised, paved, and otherwise greatly im¬ 
proved. A sewer was also made from the foot of 
the bridge to nearly the centre of High Street. This 
sewer was formed without a proper survey, the 
builder appearing to possess no knowledge whatever 
of the most important part of his work, viz., that of 
constructing the levels in a proper manner, since it 
has been discovered that he rose rapidly for about 
two hundred yards from the river, and soon came so 
near the surface, that he was obliged to continue the 
work on a dead level, and afterwards left it incom¬ 
plete at the place above named. Consequently all 
the filth of the upper part of the sewer was contin¬ 
ually stopping up for want of a regular fall; a con¬ 
tinual nuisance to the public, emitting an effluvia, 
detrimental to the health and comfort of the inhabi¬ 
tants. 

Por some time the Commissioners appointed 
under the before-named act had seen the necessity of 
removing so disgusting an annoyance, but from the 


PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS. 


67 


introduction of gas, and the additional expenses 
arising from the increased importance of the town, 
and the limited means given under the restrictive 
clauses for rating under the local act, great difficulties 
presented themselves, for want of pecuniary means. 
The matter was still more strongly urged on the 
attention of the Commissioners from the fact that 
it was determined to remove the paving stones, and 
form a sound macadamized road, rendered adhesive 
by a mixture of gas tar and other materials. It 
was, therefore, considered a matter of the utmost 
importance that the bad sewerage should be amended 
before the surface of the road was improved. In 
the month of June, 1843, the Clerk to the Commis¬ 
sioners under the local act received instructions to 
employ an Engineer to make a proper survey, to 
show how far it was practicable to carry out the 
sewerage, so as to effectually drain the town. The 
result of this survey fully proved that it was pos¬ 
sible to carry a culvert from the place where the old 
sewer originally emptied itself into the river, through 
the whole of High Street, Lichfield Street, through 
Burton-Extra, to the canal lock, and that the whole 
of the waste water might be used to cleanse this 
culvert. It was also found possible to carry cul¬ 
verts through Station Street and New Street, to the 
main culvert. This survey, with the estimates was 
laid before a meeting of the Commissioners, on the 
30th of June, 1843, John Richardson, Esq., High 
Bailiff, in the chair, when it was unanimously agreed 


68 


EUKTON-UPON-TRENT. 


to memorialize the Feoffees of the Burton Town 
Lands for assistance. The Feoffees liberally respon¬ 
ded to the memorial with a grant of £400. Subse¬ 
quently a meeting of the inhabitants sanctioned a 
further expenditure from the highway rate, towards 
the object. Since this period the sewerage has been 
extended through Hominglow Street, the remaining 
portion of Station Street, and also through the en¬ 
tire length of a new street leading from Station 
Street to New Street. The entire length of sewer¬ 
age within the town is 3282 yards, or nearly two 
miles. 

The most sanguine expectations of the projectors 
of this improvement have been fully realized; each 
time a boat passes the lock, nearly the whole of the 
waste water flows down the entire length of the 
sewer, from Bond End, to the river near the bridge. 
This arrangement effectually prevents the accumu¬ 
lation of filth or offensive smell. 


POPULATION. 

Although mention is made in Domesday book of 
the number of houses and inhabitants in various 
parishes, yet no such records of the population of 
the parish of Burton are to be found in that work. 
It is, therefore, impossible to form an estimate of its 
population, earlier than the reign of Charles II. 
A tax was imposed by act of parliament, during this 
reign, called hearth money, which was a levy of two 
shillings on every hearth, in houses paying church 



POPULATION. 


69 


and poor rates. It was found that there were in 
Burton two hundred and ninety-six hearths, which 
paid £29 12s. lid., and in Burton Extra, forty-one 
hearths, paying £4 2s. Od. The population of the 
two townships was, probably, about 2,500. 

By an accurate survey, taken in Oct. 1789, the 
number of dwelling houses and inhabitants in Bur¬ 
ton and Burton Extra, was as follows :— 


Burton.626 houses, 2926 inhabitants. 

Burton Extra ...102 houses, 553 inhabitants. 

Total.728 3479 


At the parliamentary census of 1831, the popu¬ 
lation of the parish, including all the townships, 
amounted to 6,812. 

The following table exhibits the extent and popu¬ 
lation of each division of the parish at the last cen¬ 
sus of 1841. 


Burton Borough... 

ACHES. 

563 

POPULATION. 

4863 

Burton Extra. 

932 

1193 

Branston. 

2353 

441 

Horninglow. 

2167 

852 

Stretton . 

1210 

410 

Winshill . 

1048 

371 


8273 # 

8130 


The total population of the town, which includes 
Burton Borough, Burton Extra, and a portion of 
Horninglow township, amounted to 6556. 

* This does not include a portion of Stapenhill township which is in 
Burton parish. 

















70 


BURTOX-UPON-TRENT. 


LOCAL GOYERNMENT. 

Although Burton neither returns members to 
parliament, nor contains any corporate body, yet 
it retains the name of a Borough, so that this must 
merely be with reference to the translation of 'Bur- 
gos, a town. It is true that the Abbots sat in par¬ 
liament by writ; but they were only occasionally 
summoned, and did not sit in their own right, and 
were not, therefore, compelled, as were many others, 
“ ad habendum servitia sua.” 

Previous to the dissolution of the abbey, the 
government of the town was almost exclusively in 
the hands of the abbot, who possessed great privi¬ 
leges and an extensive jurisdiction. Prom an 
ancient record it also appears that the abbot 
possessed authority for the trying of criminals and 
the power of life and death. In an account of the 
boundaries of Wetmore mention is made of the 
spot where the “thieves hangeth,” and which is no 
doubt the same as that which has been since called 
Gallows Plat, and Gallows Lane, near that part of 
Horninglow Street called Little Burton. 

The town is now governed by a High Bailiff, who 
is also Coroner ; the gentleman who now fills this of¬ 
fice is John Bichardson, Esq. The other officers are 
six Deciners, (probably a corruption of the Boman 
Decemverii) and three Constables. There is, also, 
a Town Jury, for the settlement of disputes, inspec¬ 
tion of nuisances, &c. These officers, with the 
exception of the High Bailiff, (whose office is per- 


LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 


71 


rnanent) are elected at a Court Leet, held annually in 
October, under the authority of the Most Noble the 
Marquis of Anglesey, the Lord of the Manor. 
Thomas Landor, Esq., of the manor, is his Lordship’s 
present Land Agent. 

The police form part of the county constabulary 
force ; two officers reside in the town, one of whom 
is an inspector. 

MARKETS AND EAIRS. 

In the annals of Burton Abbey we are informed 
that King John granted to the abbot and monks, “ a 
fair of three days duration, commencing on the eve 
of St. Modwen, and also a market upon Thursday, 
as at this day, These liberties were confirmed to 
them by King Henry III., a. d. 1227. 

The market is well supplied with the various 
necessaries of life ; it is chiefly held underneath and 
surrounding the Town Hall. The trade in corn, 
particularly barley, is also considerable. 

There are four annual fairs, the most ancient is 
on “the feast of St. Modwen,” (Oct. 29.) The 
other fairs are on Candlemas day ; April 5th ; Holy 
Thursday ; also a statute fair on the Monday after 
Michaelmas day, for the hiring of servants in agri¬ 
culture. 



72 


PLACES OF WORSHIP, 


THE PARISH CHURCH. 


This edifice is situated at the south eastern extre¬ 
mity of the borough, close to the west bank of the 
river Trent. 

It is a neat structure, substantially built of stone,, 
in the Pallaclian, or Italian style of architecture, 
and was erected on the site of the ancient abbey 
church, about the year 1720. The church is spaci¬ 
ous, the interior being divided into a nave and side 
aisles, the latter being separated from the former by 
lofty pillars supporting semi-circular arches. The 
nave terminates towards the east, in a circular apse 
or chancel, in which is a fine altar-piece beautifully 
executed in white marble. The pews and other fit¬ 
tings are of oak. In the west gallery is the organ, 
built by the celebrated Snetzler, of London ; it is a 
very superior instrument, and was placed in this 
church, by subscription of the inhabitants, in 1771. 
The font is ancient, and has recently been restored, 
but presents no very remarkable features. The 
entire length of the body of the church is one hun¬ 
dred and one feet. At the western end is a square 
tower of considerable elegance, containing a clock 




THE PARISH CHURCH. 


73 


with three dials, a peal of eight fine-toned bells, and 
a set of excellent chimes. 

It is stated that all records of the building of this 
church are lost,—this is much to be regretted, as 
but little information of an interesting or authentic 
character can be gathered without such documents. 
The name of the patron saint is also a subject of un¬ 
certainty. The ancient structure, before named, was 
dedicated to St. Modwen, but, on the dissolution of 
the abbey, and the establishment of the collegiate 
church, by Henry VIII, the building was dedicated 
to Christ and St. Mary. This institution, as it has 
been shown, existed but for a very short period, and 
afterwards the original designation appears to have 
been resumed; for, Shaw, speaking of it at the time 
of its demolition, and the erection of the present 
church, calls it “ the old church dedicated to St. 
Modwen.” In most instances where new churches 
are erected on old sites, the new building receives 
the same name as the old one,—it is, therefore, 
generally supposed that St. Modwen is the proper 
designation, but others assert that it was dedicated 
to St. Mary. 

The church-yard is very spacious and well kept, 
and in pleasantness of appearance is probably ex¬ 
celled by few. Several stone coffins have been found 
in this church-yard at different periods ; one of them 
is now placed under a graceful weeping willow, 
overhanging the western margin of the Trent. 

The living is a perpetual curacy under the patron- 


74 . 


BUETON-UPON-TBENT. 


age of the Marquis of Anglesey, who is the lay im¬ 
propriator of the tithes. The present incumbent 
is the Hey. Samuel Stead. 

The register of this church is tolerably complete 
and in a good state of preservation, commencing 
with the year 1538. It is written mostly in 
Latin, until about 1720. The name of Modwen 
several times appears in the registry of the six¬ 
teenth century, as a female designation. 

Affixed to the register are some memorandums 
of sundry collections, made in this church about the 
end of the seventeenth century, for various bene¬ 
volent objects ; amongst them are the following :—- 

“ Collected at Burton, July 17, 1664, for y e re¬ 
pair of y e steeple of y e p’ish church of St. Peter, y e 
apostle, in Sandwich, in y e county of Canterbury y e 
sum of 6s. 3d. 

“Collected in ye p’ish church of Burton-upon- 
Trent, in y e county of Stafford, y e 7th day of May, 
1665, for a fire at Stillingfleet, in y e East Biding of 
ye county of York, y e sum of 8s. 4d. 

“ 1689. Paid Adam Eroggat, for y e dis¬ 
tressed Irish Protestants .4 8 0 

1689. Paid to Christopher Lowe [for 

fire] at Bungay .3 18 0 

1692. Paid to Adam Froggat, for redem- 

tion of slaves in Algiers, Sally Bar¬ 
bara, &c.1 10 3 

1693. Paid to Adam Froggat, for French 

Protestants.5 18 8 






THE PARISH CHURCH. 75 

The following is copied from a board in the church. 

“ THE LECTURE. 

was founded by Mr. Thomas Boilston, citizen and 
cloth-worker, London ; a member of the right wor¬ 
shipful company of cloth-workers, to whom and to 
their successors he left £800 in trust, by will, bear¬ 
ing date June 22, (year not mentioned) to pay a 
salary of £31 4s. Od. quarterly to a lecturer, for 
preaching a lecture in the parish church of Burton- 
upon-Trent, on Thursday morning in every week, 
16s. annually to the clerk or sexton for tolling the 
bell, &c. The lecturer to be appointed by the bailiff 
or chief officers in Burton and five or six of the 
chief inhabitants, with the advice and approbation 
of three ministers; John Boilston of Weston, 
Thomas Duldale, Walsall; and Bichard Bett, Staf¬ 
ford ; or any two. When any of these should die, 
the survivors to choose another neighbouring minis¬ 
ter in his place ; and if any neglect, or forbearance 
in regularly preaching this lecture, one half of the 
yearly payment to be then made at the above respec¬ 
tive times, to the treasurer of Christ’s Hospital, 
London, towards the support thereof, and the other 
half to the poor of the cloth-worker s’ company.” 


Among the principal monuments in the interior 
of the church, are the following.— 

On a small mural marble on the north side of the 
chancel: 



76 


BTJRTON-XJPON-TRENT. 


Hie infra’ posita est (Fiducia beat® resurectionis 
Philadelphia Williamson, 

filia natu minor, Radulphi Williamson, arm. & Mari® uxor ejus, ex 
parochia St. Ann® Westmonasteriensis egregia indole, eximijs animi 
corporisqu; dotibus, ®tate etiam ac vita integra, intacta virgo : at gravi 
febre correpta subito succubuit morti. Heu nimiures triste exemplar, 
brevis et fluxi vit® human® status. Nat, 8 Nov. 1688. Obiit 22 Oct. 

1706. 

On the south side of the chancel: 

Isaaci Hawkins, armig. 

Juris legum rerum fere omnium olim non mediocriter periti, ingenio 
eloquentia fortitudine, bonis moribus et virtutibus quamplurimis orna- 
tissimi, itidem Elizabeth® uxoiis ejus Elizabeth® fll. nat max. et Ann® 
Watson materter®, quorum omnium quicquid mortale haude procul hinc 
pie reconditur optat ad vitam abire potiorem. Hoc positum. An. Dom. 

1727. 

Near the north door : 

Here lyes Mr. Richard Allsop, of this town, mercer, a person of 
sound understanding, great industry, inflexible honesty, and commend¬ 
able frugality, (for he was frugal that he might be charitable.) He was 
a chearful companion, a sincere friend and a good Christian, Thus he 
lived esteemed and dyed lamented by the friends of virtue. Ob. July 3, 
1728, ®t. 27. He left by his will, (proved in the Arches) ten pounds per 
annum for ever, for the instruction of thirty poor boys of this town in 
Christian knowledge ; and ten pounds to the poor of Hathern in Leices¬ 
tershire, for ever. This monument was erected at the charge of his 
affectionate grandson, Mr. Richard Proudman. 

On a mural marble in the north aisle: 

Matthew Alitred, of Heydon, in Yorkshire, esq. 1769. And Ann his 
wife, daughter of Sir Henry Every, of Egginton, co. Derby, bart. 1725. 

In the south aisle on a handsome tablet: 

Sacred to the memory of 

Abraham Hoskins, Esq. 

Many years the highly respected Bailiff of this Borough, who departed 
this life, April 27tli, 1805, aged 76 years. 

And also of Sarah his wife, who died May 8. 1818, aged 80. 

“ Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” 


MONUMENTS. 


77 


In the South aisle : 

This monument is erected by order of Joseph Muckleston Esq. to 
the respectful memory of his Uncle, 

Isaac Hawkins, 

late of this place, Esq. who departed this life the 8th day of February, 
1800, aged 91 years. 

In a window in the south aisle: 

In memory of 
Thomas Clark. 

Merchant, born May 22nd, 1763, died March 20th, 1833. 

“ Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life,” 

In the same aisle : 

Sacred to the memory of 
Mary Thornewill, 

who was born the 20th of July, 1758. She married Thos. Thornewill, 
Esq. of Dove Clift’in this parish, and died there, 3rd July, 1805. 

Near the above : 

In memory of 

Thomas Thornewill Esq., 

of Dove Cliff, He was born March 28,1760, and died July 8, 1843. 

On a plain tablet: 

Sacred to the memo y of 
Anthony Greatorex, 

43 years organist of this church. Born July 15, 1730, died Nov. 19, 1814. 

The simplicity of his manners, the integrity of his heart, and the 
innocency of his life, have numbered him among those who kept the 
commandments of God and the faith of their Saviour Jesus Christ. 

On a neat sarcophagus : 

Sacred to the memory of 
Benjamin Wilson, 

who died xxvii February, mdcccxii. aged lxi. 

Whose simplicity of manners, rectitude of conduct, and benevolence 
of mind will ever live in the remembrance of his friends. In gratitude 
for his regard so truly paternal; which ceased only with life; this tablet 
is erected by his niece, Ann Noble. 


78 


BURTON-TTPON-TRENT. 


Near the west door, a marble tablet surmounted 
with an elegant sculpture by Westmacott: 

Sacred to the memory of 
Myrtilla, Wife of Sir J. D. Fowler, 
and youngest daughter of Abraham Hoskins, Esq. Born 8th July, 1774, 
Died 14th August, 1825, For unaffected piety, and the exercise of all 
the duties of life, she was eminently distinguished. Her amiable, cheer¬ 
ful and benevolent disposition, endeared her to every heart. Her afflic¬ 
ted husband grateful for 26 years of constant happiness, now sorrowing 
and alone, dedicates this tablet to her many virtues. 

Under the west gallery: 

Sacred to the memory of 

Joseph Pycroft, Esq., 
who departed this life, June 7, 1831, aged 69. 

And also to Elizabeth his Wife, who died Nov. 4, 1826, 
aged 68 years. 

In the north aisle : 

In memory of Samuel Allsopp, 

of Derby, and of Birlingham in the County of Worcester, Esq. Who 
died highly esteemed and lamented, Feb. 26th, 1838, aged 57, 

He was the male representative of an ancient Derbyshire family, whose 
ancestor, Hugh de Allsopp, was knighted by Richard the First, on the 
Conquest of Acre. He was descended from Anthony Allsopp, of Alsop- 
in-the-Dale, (Ilelleshope) Derbyshire, whose fourth son, Samuel, mar¬ 
ried Bridget, daughter of Bencroft Banister, of Worcester, and of 
Birlingham, Esq. Their son Thomas married Ann Chalinor, of Fauld, 
by whom he had one daughter and five sons, James the youngest mar¬ 
ried Ann, daughter of Benjamin Wilson, of this town, by whom he had 
six sons and two daughters, the five youngest died in their infancy. 
The survivors were Ann, the above named Samuel, and Thomas, by 
whom this tablet is erected as a tribute of brotherly affection. 

In the North aisle ; 

To the memory of 
Anne, wife of Mr. Halford Adcock, 
of Leicester, and second daughter of Rupert Chawner, M. D. of this 
place, and Mary his first wife. She was born the 23rd February, 1783, 
married 8th Dec. 1814, died 26th Dec. 1816. 


































TRINITY CHURCH. 


79 


Oil a neat tablet, surmounted by escutcheon : 

In the family vault are deposited the remains of 
John Peel, Esq., 

Of Pastures House, in the County of Derby, who died November 7th, 
1816, aged 49 years, sincerely respected and deeply lamented. Also two 
of his children, Edmund and Alicia, who died in their infancy. Also 
Elizabeth Margaret, wife of the above John Peel, and daughter of Gill 
Slater, Esq., of Everton, Lancashire, who died October 10th, 1820, 
aged 55 years. 

Near the above: 

Sacred to the Memory of 
Joseph Peel, Esq., 

Of Bowes Farm, in the County of Middlesex, who died at Stapenhill, in 
the County of Derby, on the 14th of December, 1821, aged 56; and is 
buried in the family vault in this Church-yard. Also of Ann his wife, 
who died at Bowes Farm, on the 15th of June, 1811, aged 43 years ; and 
lies interred at Edmonton, in the County of Middlesex. Also Charlotte 
Jane, daughter of the above Joseph Peel and Ann his wife, who was 
born at Bowes Farm, the 28th of October, 1809, and departed this life 
the 15th August, 1830, at Dolhyfryd, Denbighshire, and is interred in 
the vault in this Church-yard. 

In the North aisle : 

Sacred to the Memory of 
Edward Smith, 

Of this Town, and of Linton, in the County of Derby, who died March 
11th, 1832, aged 68 years. Also of Sarah Smith, his widow, who died 
August 19th, 1834, aged 68 years. 


HOLY TRINITY CHURCH. 


This handsome structure, situated in TIorninglow 

Street, was erected in 1824, as a chapel of ease for 

the northern part of the town and the adjoining 

hamlets. The cost of erection was about £7000, 

h 




80 


EURTON-UPON-TEEISTT. 


which was defrayed by property bequeathed for its 
foundation by the late Isaac Hawkins, Esq. 

The style of architecture is the florid gothic, the 
building being somewhat profusely ornamented with 
pinnacles, buttresses, and other decorations. Over 
the north entrance is a square tower of elegant pro¬ 
portions, and suitably ornamented, containing a 
clock and bell. The interior comprises a nave, side 
aisles, and chancel: in the latter is a richly decora¬ 
ted stained glass window. The side aisles and gal¬ 
leries are divided from the nave by a row of clustered 
columns, supporting pointed arches. The whole 
arrangement of the building is very complete, and 
will accommodate about twelve hundred persons. 

The patron of the living is the Marquis of Angle- 
sea, who presented land for the site and for a 
burying ground. The Rev. Peter Trench, M. A. is 
the incumbent. 


CHRIST CHURCH. 

This elegant edifice was opened for divine service 
on the 18th of September, 1844, on which occasion 
the ceremony of consecration was performed by the 
bishop of the diocese, in the presence of a numerous 
assembly. It is situated near the western end of 
New Street, in a neighbourhood rapidly increasing 
in population. 

The church, which is from the design of Mr. J. 
Mitchell, architect, Sheffield, is in the early English, 
or lancet Gothic style, and is cruciform in its 



Iliini! 






























































































































































— — 
















CHRIST CHURCH. 


81 


arrangement, having a nave seventy-seven feet by 
twenty-eight; north and south transepts, twenty- 
eight by twenty-one; and chancel twenty-four 
• feet by fourteen. At the north end is a tower and 
spire, rising to the height of one hundred and fifty 
feet. The windows in the nave and transepts are 
coupled, having small shafts running up the angles, 
both within and without, with appropriate hood 
mouldings. The chancel is lighted by a triple win¬ 
dow. This window, as well as the chancel arch and 
other parts of the interior is elaborately carved, with 
suitable mouldings, and the whole is in stone. The 
interior of the church is lined with dressed stone, 
closely joined. The roof deserves attention from its 
peculiar construction, there being no small rafters. 
The trusses are placed at twelve feet distance. The 
whole of the benches, both open and appropriated, 
have stall ends ; the appropriated ones having small 
doors. The reading desk and pulpit are placed on 
either side of the chancel arch, so that on entering 
the church, a full view of the chancel is obtained, 
which adds greatly to the general effect of the struc¬ 
ture. In designing the font, the architect was 
guided in a great measure by the one in Ashbourne 
church. The church will accommodate six hundred 
on the ground floor, and four hundred sittings have 
been provided by galleries in the transept and tower. 
The exterior is built of scabled wall stone, with ash¬ 
ler dressings round the windows, doors, &c. The 
spire is also built of ashler. 


82 burton-ppon-trent. 

The present incumbent is the Rev, W. Morgan, 
who resides in a neat parsonage house, recently 
erected between the church and schools. 


CONGREGATIONAL CHAPEL. 

The Congregational Chapel is in High Street, and 
occupies the site of a nonconformist meeting house 
erected in 1662, for the congregation of the Rev, 
Thomas Bakewell, who was ejected from the rectory 
of Rolleston, for not complying with the act of 
uniformity. 

The building, which is spacious and elegant, is in 
in the Gothic style, and is considered a great orna¬ 
ment to the principal street of Burton. The inte¬ 
rior arrangements are very complete : the pulpit and 
other fittings are of oak, and are of the most substan¬ 
tial and appropriate character. Within the lofty 
front arch, in which are the entrances, is a fine 
window of beautiful proportions. In consequence 
the galleries being placed only at each end, and not 
round the side walls, this chapel presents a remark¬ 
ably airy and spacious appearance. In the gallery 
behind the pulpit, is a fine-toned organ. The chapel 
was erected in 1842, from a design by H. I. Stevens, 
Esq. of Derby, and will accommodate six hundred 
persons. 

In the rear of the building are vestry and school¬ 
rooms, and a small burying ground. 


















































CHAPELS. 


83 


WESLEYAN CHAPEL. 

The first chapel belonging to this body was erec¬ 
ted in 1766. The present building occupies the 
same site, and was enlarged and much improved in 
1843. It is now a neat and spacious place of wor¬ 
ship, but possesses no feature worthy of particular 
remark. Connected with the chapel are spacious 
vestries and school-rooms, with two neat houses for 
the resident ministers. 


SALEM CHAPEL. 

Is in Station Street, and is occupied by the 
congregation of Particular Baptists, It was erected 
in 1803, and almost entirely rebuilt in 1842. The 
interior is neat and commodiously arranged, having 
galleries round the entire building. It is estimated 
to contain about six hundred persons. 

The other chapels are the General Baptist 
Chapel, in Burton Extra, and the Primitive 
Methodist Chapel, in Station Street.. 




84 


TRADE AND MANUFACTURES. 


The first records relating to the trade of Burton 
are found in Leland, who says there were in his 
time “many marblers and workers in alabaster.’ ’ 
Camden afterwards confirms this statement in the 
following words, “ The Trent joining Tame directs 
its course northwards, through grounds yielding 
plenty of alabaster, in order to receive the Dove, 
and almost surrounds Burton! a town famous for 
its alabaster works.” Although the neighbour¬ 
ing hills in the vicinity of Needwood forest yield 
abundance of alabaster, there has been no manufac¬ 
tory of the kind mentioned above, for a long period. 

Before the civil wars, many of the inhabitants 
were Clothiers. Their goods, from the excellence 
of their quality, were greatly esteemed, but in con¬ 
sequence of the wars this trade also declined and 
is quite extinct. The Earl of Essex, in a letter 
written in 1644, respecting placing a garrison here, 
speaks of the “ great opposition in regard of the 
poverty of the inhabitants, that the town consisteth 
only of clothiers and maltsters,” 



THE BEEWING TRADE. 


85 


THE BREWING TRADE. 


There is little doubt but that Burton has been 
famous for its ale from an early period. Sir Walter 
Scott, whose antiquarian lore was very considerable, 
mentions in his romance of Ivanhoe, that it was 
so celebrated in the time of Bichard I., Coeur de 
Lion ; we also know from Plot that information was 
conveyed to Mary Queen of Scots, then in confine¬ 
ment at Tutbury Castle, during Babington’s Con¬ 
spiracy, about the year 1580, by means of a Burton 
Brewer , who supplied the castle with ale. 

But the first origin of the Brewing trade as the 
staple of Burton, was at the commencement of the 
eighteenth century, when one Benjamin Printon, 
began in a small way, (employing only three men) 
the trade of a common brewer. 

A little more than fifty years ago there were fif¬ 
teen or sixteen breweries in Burton-upon-Trent, 
but twenty years ago the number was reduced to 
five. Since that period both the Foreign and Home 
Trades have so greatly increased, that it is probable 
more ale is brewed in this town for exportation, 
than in any other place in the kingdom. 

When Burton pale ale was first sent to India 
there was a prejudice in favour of another ale, which 
had long had a preference there, but soon after the 
Burton ale was introduced into the Indian market 
all others gave way; and it has ever since comman¬ 
ded prices much higher than ale from any other 



80 


BUETON-1TPOK-TRENT. 


place. Burton ale lias also been successfully intro¬ 
duced into Australia and other British Colonies, 
and different countries in all parts of the globe. 

The Home Trade differs from that of most other 
provincial brewers, which is chiefly limited to their 
immediate neighbourhood; this is not the case with 
the Burton ale,—it is not confined to a few miles 
around the brewery, nor to the adjoining counties ; 
but finds its way into every county in England, and 
throughout the whole o^ the United Kingdom. 

Twenty years since, it has been said, the number of 
breweries was five, it is now sixteen. Several of 
the old establishments have been greatly enlarged; 
and there are two, at either of which there is now a 
greater extent of business done than there was 
by the whole town twenty years ago. 

It is worthy of remark that the Burton brewers, 
contrary to the usual practice in all other places, 
make use of hard water in preference to soft. The 
late celebrated Hr. Darwin thus ingeniously accounts 
for this in a letter introduced into Pilkington’s Nat¬ 
ural History of Derbyshire, respecting the waters 
of Buxton and Matlock:—■ 

“ But I cannot leave this account of calcareous 
or hard waters, without adding, that, I suppose, 
from the great affinity between calcareous earth and 
saccharine acid, may be explained a circumstance, 
the theory of which has never been understood, and 
therefore the fact has generally been doubted; and 
that is, that hard waters make stronger beer 


TEADE. 


87 


than soft ones. I appeal to the brewers of Burton 
for the fact, who have the soft water of the Trent 
running on one side of their brewhouses, and yet 
prefer, universally, the hard or calcareous waters, 
supplied by their pumps. I suppose there may be 
some saccharine acid in the malt (which is not all 
of it equally perfectly made into sugar, by the veg¬ 
etable digestive power of the germinating barley), 
which by its attracting the calcareous earth of hard 
waters may produce a kind of mineral sugar, which 
like the true sugar may be convertible into spirit.” 

The Mill, mentioned in Domesday Book, we may 
conclude keeps its old situation on an island below 
the bridge; but, doubtless, has greatly increased in 
value since that period, when it was estimated at 
six shillings. 

Near the above mill is an extensive Tape Factory, 
employing a considerable number of hands. 

A few years past two extensive Cotton Mills 
afforded employment to a large number of work 
people ; the Manufacture of Hats was also very con¬ 
siderable, but these have been given up. 

An extensive Iron Foundry is carried on in New 
Street, and another at Dove Cliff, in Stretton Town¬ 
ship, by the Messrs. Thornewills. 

An act of parliament was obtained in 1698, “ for 
making and keeping the Fiver Trent in the coun¬ 
ties of Derby, Leicester, and Stafford, navigable for 




'88 


BURTOX-UPON-TREXT. 


boats, barges, &c., from a certain place called Wil- 
den Ferry, up tbe said river to the town of Burton- 
upon-Trent.” The Bight Honourable William 
Lord Paget, Baron of Beaudesert, Lord of the 
Manor of Burton, and his heirs and assignees had 
full power to nominate and appoint proper persons 
to accomplish the same ; and for the better satisfy¬ 
ing all damages that might accrue thereby, proper 
commissioners were appointed as recited in the act. 
In this act they were only empowered to use man¬ 
ual labour for towing, but an act was obtained 23 
Geo. III. “for empowering persons, navigating ves¬ 
sels upon the said river, to and from the said place, 
to hale the same with horses.” 

This navigation has been almost entirely super¬ 
seded by the construction of the Grand Trunk, or 
Trent and Mersey Canal, of which the great 
Brindley was the engineer. This Canal runs para- 
lel with the town on the west, about a mile distant, 
and communicates with the town and the river by a 
branch at the south end of the town, where there 
are extensive and commodious wharfs, as well as 
on the main line at Horninglow. This canal 
was at first designed to have terminated in the Trent 
at Burton, but some jealousies and differences ari¬ 
sing between the two companies, occasioned the 
promoters of the canal to extend their project to 
Shardlow. 


89 


PUBLIC BUILDINGS, INSTITUTIONS, 
CHARITIES, Ac. 


THE TOWN HALL. 

The old Hall which stood on this site was remo¬ 
ved in 1772. This ancient structure contained all 
the arrangements necessary for a court of justice, 
being fitted up with seat for the judge, jury-box, 
prisoner’s dock, &c. Here the abbots held court 
for the trial of offences, having, as elsewhere stated, 
“power of life and death.” At the taking down of 
this building, the ancient mace and keys of the town 
were discovered, and persons were then living who 
could recognise the latter as being the keys of the 
“Bar Gates,” which formerly stood at the lower 
end of High Street. The mace and keys are now in 
the possession of the High Bailiff, John Richardson, 
Esq. 

The present Town Hall was erected at the expense 
of the Earl of Uxbridge ; it is a plain but neat and 
commodious building, well adapted for its purpose. 
Over the mantel-piece in the Hall is a splendid por¬ 
trait of the Marquis of Anglesea. In this room are 
held the local courts, and all meetings of business 
and amusement connected with the town. 



90 


btteto:n-upon-trent. 


SCHOOLS. 


THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. 

This institution was founded by William Beane, 
Abbot of Burton, in 1520. He erected the School- 
house on grounds belonging to the abbey, and de¬ 
posited a sum of money in the hands of Ralph 
Sacheverel, to purchase lands for its endowment. 
The property so purchased now consists of a farm of 
one hundred and twenty acres, at Orton in Leices¬ 
tershire, let for £250 per annum, and two farms at 
Brereton, let for £202 per annum. 

The masters are appointed by the trustees. The 
head master receives for his stipend two-thirds of 
the rent of the school lands, and the second master, 
one-third. The former has also £3, and the latter 
£6, as noticed in the list of charities. 

4 

The scholars are limited to sixty: they are taught 
reading, writing, and arithmetic, by the second mas¬ 
ter, and about twenty are instructed by the head 
master, in Latin, &c. The school is free to sons of 
the inhabitants of Burton, and all such are admitted 
on application to the master, as vacancies occur, but 
with a preference to those who apply for admission 
into the classical division of the school. 

The head master is the Rev. J. R. McMichael. 

It is to be regretted that with such an income as 
£450 per annum, so little benefit is derived by the 
town from this institution. Placed on a more pop- 



SCHOOLS. 


91 


ular footing, this school might afford a good educa¬ 
tion to nearly all the youth of the town. 


Allsopp’s School, in New Street, was endowed 
in 1728, by Richard Allsopp, for the education of 
thirty poor hoys. The endowment consists of two 
pieces of land, containing upwards of nine acres, at 
Goose Moor and Horninglow. Six of the scholars 
are clothed from the rent of Rush Holme Close, at 
Hatton, in Derbyshire, which was purchased with 
£170, left by Francis Astle, in 1735. 

National Schools. The Schools in Horning¬ 
low Street were erected in 1827, by subscription, 
for the education of 60 boys and 100 girls. 

The New Schools in connection with Christ 
Church, were opened in 1844. Accommodation has 
been provided for 550 children. They are built in 
the Tudor style, and are much admired for their de¬ 
sign and excellent arrangement. 


British Schools. These schools were established 
in 1843, by voluntary subscription, aided by a grant 
of the Committee of Council on Education. The 
buildings are erected on land in the Guildables, 
presented by the Marquis of Anglesea. They consist 
of two spacious rooms for boys and girls, fitted with 
every requisite for the accommodation of four hun¬ 
dred scholars, and a neat residence for the master. 

i 





92 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT. 


NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 


This Society was commenced in 1842. The Mu¬ 
seum, which is in High Street, contains a variety of 
specimens of British and Foreign Birds, Insects, 
Fossils, Mineralogical Specimens, Antiquities, and 
Local Curiosities, the arrangement of which is very 
justly admired. The collection of British Land 
Birds is said to he complete. For this valuable 
appendage to its sources of instruction and rational 
entertainment, the town is mainly indebted to the 
exertions of the President of the Institution, Sir 
Oswald Mosley, Bart., and the Secretary, Mr Edwin 
Brown. The Museum is open daily. 

LITERARY SOCIETY'. 

One of the most valuable institutions in connexion 
with Burton is the Literary Society, which was 
established in 1844. This Society consists of First 
and Second Class Subscribers, at present about one 
hundred and sixty in number. The first class pay 
a subscription of £1 per annum, and have access to 
the Reading Room and Library at all hours that the 
institution is open. The second class pay a quar¬ 
terly subscription of 2s. 2d., or 8s. 8d. per annum, 
and have access to the Rooms and Librarv from 5 
o’clock in the evening until 10, and at all hours on 
Thursday. The principal room of the Museum 
forms the Reading Room. 




INSTITUTIONS. 


m 


A variety of Daily and Weekly London and Pro¬ 
vincial Newspapers are provided for the use of the 
Subscribers, as well as Monthly Publications, lie- 
views, &c. 

The Library consists of several hundred volumes 

«/ 

of scientific and entertaining works, purchased by 
the subscriptions of the principal inhabitants of 
Burton and some neighbouring gentlemen, including 
a donation of £20 from the Marquis of Anglesea. 

This institution is under a separate management 
from the Natural History Society and Museum, and 
pays a rent for the rooms; its affairs are under the 
control of a committee elected annually by both 
classes of subscribers. 


The Bubton Cattle Insueance Association, 
and the Bubton Faemeb’s Club, are useful Insti¬ 
tutions, and are well supported by the leading agri¬ 
culturists of the neighbourhood. The meetings of 
the latter are held monthly at the Queens Hotel, 
for the discussion of Agricultural subjects. The 
Essays read at these meetings have frequently been 
of great value and interest. An Agricultural Library 
has also been established for the use of the members. 


The Bubton, Uttoxetee and Asiibouen Union 
Bank, in the Market Place, is a joint-stock estab¬ 
lishment, commenced in 1839. The proprietary is 
numerous and respectable, and the Bank in a flour¬ 
ishing condition, the shares being at a high pre- 




94 


DIIRTON-TJPON-TRENT. 


mium. There are branches at Uttoxeter and -Ash- 
bourn. 


The Sayings Bank in Horninglow Street, was 
established in 1818, and re-instituted in 1842, and 
is now a well managed Institution. 

The Blrton-upon-Trent Poor Law Union was 
formed in 1837. It is very extensive, comprising 
fifty-three parishes, in the counties of Stafford and 
Derby; the whole population of the Union in 1841, 
was 28,878. 

The Workhouse is an extensive and substantial 
building of brick, ornamented with stone, situated at 
the west end of Horninglow Street. The cost of 
erection was £8,200: it is adapted for the accommo¬ 
dation of four-hundred inmates, and was first occu¬ 
pied in March, 1839. 

Medical Dispensary. The self-supporting Dis¬ 
pensary, near the Market Place, was established in 
1830, and is now an efficient and flourishing insti¬ 
tution. Por the small weekly payment of Id. for 
an individual, or 4d. for a family, it affords medicine 
and surgical aid to the poorer inhabitants. Most of 
the resident medical men render their services gra- 

tuitouslv to this institution. 

*/ 

The Inns and Hotels of Burton are generally 
respectably conducted establishments. The princi- 






RAILWAYS. 


05 


pal are, the Three Queens, the George, and White 
Hart Hotels. 


RAILWAY COMMUNICATION. 

The town of Burton possesses the advantage of 
extensive Railway communication with most parts 
of the kingdom, having ready access to the metropo¬ 
lis and the principal manufacturing districts : these 
advantages will he greatly increased, on the comple¬ 
tion of the new lines now in progress. 

The West Branch of the Midland Railavay 
passes the western suburbs, the Station communi¬ 
cating with the town through Station Street. This 
line, which connects the town with Derby, Birming¬ 
ham and London, was opened on the 12tli of Aug., 
1839. It is 41 miles in length, and was constructed 
at an expense of nearly £900,000. 

The Burton and Leicester Branch of the 
Midland Railway is now in course of formation. It 
proceeds from Leicester, passing Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 
and through the extensive colliery and pottery dis¬ 
tricts of Swannington, Moira, Gresley and Swadlin¬ 
cote, uniting with the Midland Railway, a short 
distance south of the station. Near Drakelow the 
line crosses the river Trent and the adjacent mead¬ 
ows, by a noble viaduct of great length. 

The North Staffordshire Railway Company 
are also constructing a line with branches, which 
will afford a direct communication with the Stafford- 

i 2 



96 


EERTOjV-TIPOTI-TRE^T. 


sliire Potteries, Manchester, Liverpool, &o., passing' 
near, or connecting with the towns of Stoke, Leek, 
Macclesfield, Cheadle, Uttoxeter and Tut bury. This 
railway joins the Midland line near the bridge at 
the end of Horninglow Street. 


CHARITIES. 


Besides the benefactions for purposes of education, 
there are several other charitable provisions which 
have been bequeathed from time to time by benevo¬ 
lent individuals, for the benefit of the poor inhabi¬ 
tants of Burton. 

The principal information under this head is 
derived from the Reports of the Commissioners of 
Charities, printed in 1839, since which it is stated 
no great changes have occurred. 

THE TOWN LAnDS. 

“ The estates and property, called the Town Lands, 
consist of several messuages and parcels of land, in 
the Town and Parish of Burton-upon-Trent, which 
were originally appropriated to public purposes, 
under several deeds of very ancient date, and have 
since, during a long period, been from time to time 
conveyed together to trustees or feeofees, under 
the like trusts as are declared in the indenture of re¬ 
lease of the 24tli of June, 1820. 

By this indenture the town lands were conveyed 
* by the then surviving trustees, to the most noble 




CHARITIES. 


97 


William marquis of Anglesey, Sir John Dickinson 
Fowler, knight; the Fey. Charles Kingsley, clerk; 
the Fey. Henry Des Yoeux, clerk ; Joseph Pyecroft, 
esq., Joseph Clay, esq., William Osborne, Samuel 
Lowe, William Worthington, and Michael Bass, 
gentlemen; John Spender, esq., John Spender, 
junior, and Charles Perks, gentlemen, upon trust, 
that the trustees or the greater part of them, who 
should yearly meet at the town-house in Burton, 
upon the feast day of St. Thomas the Apostle, or in 
the afternoon of the same day, should yearly elect, 
name and choose, two of the best and most trusty 
inhabitants of the town, for the year then next 
coming, to be the town masters or collectors of the 
rents of the town lands ; which town masters or 
collectors should yearly, in the year of their office, 
from time to time, diligently save, collect, gather 
and receiye, all the rents, issues, and profits of the 
said messuages, lands, and premises, at the rent 
days and times accustomed, and yearly put the same 
into a common coffer or box, haying four locks and 
several keys, which rents, issues, and profits so col¬ 
lected, should, as occasion should require from time 
to time, be disposed of, converted and put to the 
common use, benefit and profit of the inhabitants 
of Burton, whether it be in making payment of 
such sums of money as were and ought to be paid 
for and towards the discharge and disburthening of 
all the inhabitants of the town, when any common 
charge whatever was to be levied within the town, 


98 


BURTOtf-TTPON-TRENT. 


or for any other necessary use and business, as 
should be thought most expedient for the common 
good and profit of the inhabitants of the town; and 
that the town masters or collectors should yearly, 
at the end of the year, make their accounts of their 
receipts and disbursements of the rents and profits 
aforesaid to the trustees and other the inhabitants 
of the town, or so many of them as should please 
to be present at the said account making; and if 
it should fall out that the trustees coidd not agree 
for the election of the town masters or collectors, 
or for the custody of the four keys, or for the laying 
forth or bestowing of the rents and profits of the 
town lands, then all such variances should be ruled, 
redressed and ordered, as the greater part of the 
freeholders, commonly called burgesses, then inhab¬ 
iting within the town of Burton, and who should 
meet for that purpose, should agree upon; and it 
was thereby further declared, that the trustees and 
their heirs, or the greater part of them, should have 
power by indenture or indentures of lease under 
their hand and seals, upon valuable consideration, 
either by fine, or without fine upon increase 
of rent, with continuance of the ancient rent 
in their discretion, to the best benefit of the inhab¬ 
itants of the town, to grant or demise all or any of 
the said burgages, messuages, lands and lieridita- 
ments, for 21 years or less, in possession, and in 
case it should be for the encouraging any tenant to 
build or rebuild, then for any term not exceeding 


CHARITIES. 


99 


41 years ; and that when one half of the trustees 
should be dead, the survivors should, within three 
months after the death of the last of the said de¬ 
ceased trustees, by feoffment or otherwise, enfeoff 
and estate so many honest and sufficient persons, 
inhabiting in the town of Burton, of the nomina¬ 
tion and election of the surviving trustees, to stand 
and be seised of all the said lands, tenements and 
heriditaments, to the like uses, intents and purposes 
as therein declared, so that the said surviving trus¬ 
tees should, by such feoffment or other assurance, 
be continued in their places as trustees, and so as 
the said marquis of Anglesey, and his heirs, lords of 
the manor of Burton, for the time being, should be 
made and continued trustees therein ; provided, that 
nothing in the said indenture of release contained, 
should prejudice the said Marquis, or his heirs or 
assigns, as to any rents or services or arrears of 
rent, or services which were or should be due or 
payable to the said Marquis, his heirs or assigns, for 
or by reason of the said premises, or any of them. 

“ It has for many years been the habit of the 
trustees to let the several premises under the trust, 
with the advice and according to the opinion of a 
surveyor ; and the terms of letting of such parts of 
them as are held by tenants from year to year, are 
regulated by a general valuation made by the sur¬ 
veyor, in the year 1815. 

“ The rents of the town lands, including those of 
a close, called Finney’s Close, and the workhouse 


L.ofC.t 


100 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT. 


garden, both hereafter mentioned, and which have 
usually for some time past been carried to the same 
account, amount at present to £190 a year; but 
some alteration will probably be made in the amount 
in consequence of exchanges lately made under the 
powers of the act for the enclosure of common 
lands, &c., in Burton, respecting which the award 
has been very recently made, and is dated the 30th 
of April, 1S23. 

“ The feoffees are also entitled to the sum of 
£1,800, which has been accumulated from fines re¬ 
ceived on different renewals of leases for lives. 
Part of it, £1,500, is secured by the joint bond of 
Sir Oswald Mosley, baronet, and Ashton Nicholas 
Mosley, esq., and the remainder is lodged in the 
bank of Messrs. Clay and Son, of Burton, bearing 
interest at three per cent. The interest of the 
money, £84 a year, is applied with the other income. 

“ The rents of the town lands are collected by the 
town masters, to whose office the constables of the 
preceding year appointed at the court leet succeed, 
as a matter of course, and are paid by them to the 
treasurer of the feoffees, at the general meeting of 
the feoffees held annually for the management of 
the trust, on the 21st of December. The revenues 
are applied during the course of each year, so far 
and in such proportions as occasion requires, partly 
for the general public uses of the town and its in¬ 
habitants, and partly for particular charitable pur¬ 
poses at the discretion of the trustees; such pur- 


CHARITIES. 


101 


poses being the apprenticing of children, supplying 
coals for the poor in almshouses, and clothing for 
other poor persons, and a distribution of money 
among the poor of the town made generally on the 
21st of December. The accounts are kept by the 
treasurer, and examined and audited by the trustees, 
at their general meetings. The balance in hand at 
the last audit, was £179 12s. 6|d.” 

Finney’s Charity. —The origin of this charity 
is unknown. The property consists of a field called 
Finney’s Close, situate in Anderstaff lane, contain¬ 
ing about 2a. 1 r. 22jp. which is rented at £11 8s. 8d. 
per annum. This was originally appropriated to 
the apprenticing of some poor boy, but is now car¬ 
ried to the general account of the town charities. 

The Workhouse Harden is a piece of ground 
on the west side of Anderstaff lane, let for £5 8s. 
Od. per annum. This was formerly appropriated to 
the purchase of coats for six poor men of Burton, 
but is now carried to the general account. 

The Pavement House and New Close. —The 
property called the Pavement House, now consists 
of two houses situate about the centre of High 
street, on the west side, together with three cottages 
and some gardens at the back. These are let on 
lease, at the annual rent of £12. The New Close 
is a piece of land of twenty acres,—formerly a part 
of certain waste lands, called the Town Moors. 
This field is let in leys for depasturing cows, &c. 


102 


BTTRTON-TJPON-TRENT. 


The amount of tlie yearly produce is about £80 
per annum. The Rents of Pavement House and 
New Close have been applied since 1815 solely to 
the purpose of repairing the pavements of Burton 
and Burton Extra. 

Daniel Watson’s Charity Estate consists of 
a Stable, Coach House, and Yard, in Station Street, 
the rental of which yields £4 per annum. This 
amount is distributed annually amongst the poor at 
the church gates, on Whitsun eve, in sums of one 
shilling each,—this mode of distribution is of an¬ 
cient date. 

Isaac Hawkins’ Charity. —Isaac Hawkins be¬ 
queathed by will in 1712, the sum of £100 to be 
laid out in lands and settled for ever, for the main¬ 
tenance of some poor man. This money was ex¬ 
pended in the purchase of a field called the Low 
Grate, in the liberties of Barton under Needwood, 
which produces £7 7s. Od. per annum, and is paid 
to a poor man of Burton, chosen by the feoffees, 
being generally the oldest person in the town, dur¬ 
ing life. 

Astle’s Charity. —This benefaction consists of 
a field at Hatton, called the Bush Holme Close, let 
at the yearly rent of £6. This is applied with some 
addition from the town lands, in the purchase of 
articles of clothing for six poor boys in Allsopp’s 
school. This bequest was made by Francis Astle, 
in 1735. 


CHARITIES. 


103 


Mrs Almond's Gtft. —This is a considerable 
charity, the origin of which the commissioners were 
unable to discover. At the date of their Report it 
comprised as follows :— 

“ A messuage, farm house, and several closes, at 
Aston, in the county of Derby, containing by esti¬ 
mation about thirty acres; the annual rental of 
which is £55. 

A close, called Blackwells (formerly in several 
parcels), at Rolleston, in the county of Stafford, by 
estimation 6a. 5r.; the annual rental is £14 18s. 8d. 

Allotment in Horninglow Township, made in res¬ 
pect of Bakewell’s close, consisting of la. 1 r. 19y>. 
The annual rental is £2. 

Belonging to this charity is also a small rent 
charge on lands at Rolleston, of the annual value 
of £2 2s. 

The trusts of Almond’s Charity are stated in the 
trust deeds of the Town Lands, as follows;— 

“ One shilling and sixpence weekly to be distrib¬ 
uted in bread, as is usual at Burton church, every 
Sunday morning; and also to pay to the three sev¬ 
eral villages or hamlets of Branston, Horninglow, 
and Stretton, in the parish of Burton, 30s. a piece, 
yearly, to be given to the poor of each village or 
hamlet, on Easter-eve ; and the remainder to be 
distributed in money to the inferior inhabitants of 
Burton and Burton Extra, in the church porch of 
Burton, yearly, for ever ; ” and out of the Bents the 
following annual payments are now made :— 

K 


104 


BURTON-UPON-TIIENT. 


“ Laid out in bread, wliicli is given weekly in 
Burton church, among eighteen poor persons of 
Burton; four of Burton Extra ; two of Horninglow ; 
two of Stretton, and one of Branston, chosen by 
the feoffees,—£5. 17s. 

“ Paid to the respective overseers of the poor of 
Horninglow, Stretton, and Branston, two guineas 
each, which sums are distributed among poor per- 
sons of those townships, in sums of 3s. a piece and 
under.—£6. 6s. 

“ Distributed on Easter-eve, among poor persons 
of Burton and Burton Extra, chosen by the feoffees 
in sums of 5s. and under, a piece.'— 291. 17s. 

“ Previous to 1792, the whole surplus rents 
(being then £27 7s.) were distributed at Easter 
among poor persons of Burton and Burton Extra ; 
and on the occasion of an advance of the rents in 
that year, the amount then distributed was increa¬ 
sed to £29 17s., at which it has since continued.” 

There have been further applications of the sur¬ 
plus rents, viz.: between 1813 and 1819 the sum 
of £250 was distributed amongst the poor, in peri¬ 
ods of peculiar exigency, in sums of £50 each 
time. 

Hawkins’ Charity. —William Hawkins, by will 
dated 23rd of September, 1724, gave £5 per an¬ 
num rent charge, on a messuage at Newport, for the 
benefit of the poor of Burton. This money is ap¬ 
plied by the feoffees in the purchase of gowns for 
twelve poor women. 


CHARITIES. 


105 


Steeles’ Charity consists of a small rent charge 

O 

ol 21s. per annum, left for the benefit of the poor 
ot Burton, Stretton, and Branston, and so appro¬ 
priated. 

Paulet’s Almshouses. —This benefaction origi- 
nates from the Will of dame Elizabeth Paulet, in 
the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 

“ By indenture dated 5th February, in the 33rd 
year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, dame Eliza¬ 
beth Paulett, widow, granted unto Humphrey 
Dethicke and seven others, and their heirs, an annu¬ 
ity or yearly rent-charge of £10 out of her capital 
messuage, and part of the late dissolved monastery 
of Clerkenwell, in the county of Middlesex, payable 
at Michaelmas and Lady-day by equal portions; and 
also an annuity, or yearly rent, of £5 out of her 
messuage in Clerkenwell, called the Garner, or 
Garner House, payable as aforesaid; and she 
thereby granted and confirmed unto the same par¬ 
ties and their heirs, all her messuages, lands, and 
hereditaments in Bentley, within the county of 
Derby, upon trust, yearly, out of the said yearly 
rent of £10 to pay to the schoolmaster, for the 
time being, of the free school of Burton, on the 
1st of November and 1st of May, the sum of £3, 
and to a fit and convenient usher of the same free 
school, for the time being, the sum of £G on the 
same days; and also upon trust, yearly to bestow 
the residue of the said yearly rent of £10, and all 
the said yearly rent of £5, and also all the rents 


106 


BTJlITON-ITPOJf-TRElST. 


and profits of all the said messuages, lands and 
hereditaments in Bentley, for the relief and main¬ 
tenance of five old and impotent women, unmarried, 
of good and honest conversation, for ever, to be 
kept and maintained within the town of Burton-on- 
Trent, with power of distress in case of non-pay¬ 
ment of the said yearly rents of £10 and £5 : And 

the said dame Elizabeth Paulett thereby directed 

%> 

that the said poor impotent women should be taken 
out of the most aged and poorest women dwelling 
within the town of Burton, and should be nomina¬ 
ted and governed by the said trustees, their heirs 
and assigns, or the most part of them, according to 
such rules as she should in her life-time appoint; 
and if she should die without making such appoint¬ 
ment, then according to such rules or orders as the 
trustees, their heirs or assigns, or the most part of 
them, should appoint; and that they should receive, 
every of them, yearly, 26s. 8d. at four times in the 
year, viz.: at Michaelmas, Christmas, Lady-day, and 
St. John the Baptist’s day, by even portions, and 
also every year, at the feast of All Saints, one freyse 
gown, one smock, and one apron ; and that all the 
residue of the rents and profits remaining undis¬ 
posed of, should be bestowed in and about the re¬ 
parations of such house or houses as should be ap¬ 
pointed for the same poor women to inhabit, in 
Burton aforesaid, and for fuel, and such other 
necessaries for them, as by the feoffees, their heirs 
and assigns, or the most of them, should seem meet. 5 * 


CHARITIES. 


107 


Parker’s Almshouses. —The property of which 
this charity consists was bequeathed by Ellen Par¬ 
ker, in 1634, The property consists of 

1. “ The almshouse, situate on the east side of 
High street, in Burton, with a small yard adjoining. 
The almshouse contains six apartments, occupied by 
the six almswomen, and two chambers above, occu¬ 
pied rent free, by a poor woman. 

2. “ The site of a house on the east side of 
Anderstaff Lane, in Burton, and 3a. 3 r. ip. or 
thereabouts of land adjoining thereto. 

3. “ A messuage or tenement, with the garden 
and appurtenances, on the east side of Anderstaff 
Lane, containing altogether seven perches. 

4. A messuage, with a large yard and dyehouses, 
and other buildings and premises, on the east side 
of Anderstaff Lane. 

5. A malthouse, late a messuage and premises, 
in Anderstaff Lane, containing six perches. 

6. A messuage on the West side of High street, 
Burton, let on lease for 20 years, from 25th March 
1820. 

7. A close on the west side of Anderstaff Lane, 
called Vallance close, containing 2 a. 3 r. 3 Gp. 

8. A piece of land, 1 r. & Gp. on the west side 
of Anderstaff Lane. 

9. Certain closes in the parish of Eolleston, in 

the county of Stafford, lately containing 18<?. lr. 

37p. and so described as to quantity in the general 

trust deed of the 24th of June 1820, but of which 

k 2 


108 


BURTON-TIPOF-TRENT, 


a piece of 1 a. & 38y>. was given up at the inclosure 
as after mentioned. A close also in Rolleston, con¬ 
taining 5 a. 2 r. 33 p. lately part of the ground, called 
the Hop-yard; and a close of 1 a. & 3 r. in the 
township of Horninglow, in ground, called the 
Out woods. 

Caldwall’s Charity. —The particulars of this 
grant are as follows;—“ By indenture ot grant, 
dated 22nd February, 24th Elizabeth, Richard 
Caldwall, doctor of physic, for the consideration 
therein mentioned, declared that he had given and 
delivered to the bailiffs and citizens of the city ot 
Lichfield, the sum of £40 to be by them lent to 
eight persons of occupation, having need, being ot 
honest fame, no beggars or ale-house keepers, and 
who should make continual abode in the city of 
Lichfield, for five years, if such borrowers should 
so long live, viz.: to every of the said eight persons, 
£5 a piece, and after that time expired, to eight 
new such like persons for other five years, and so on 
for ever; and he thereby further promised and 
granted, before the feast of Pentecost, then next, 
to bestow upon the said bailiffs and citizens, the 
sum of £160 to be employed in manner therein 
after mentioned; and after giving certain directions 
for lending £40 parcel thereof, to his nephew, and 
the heirs male of his body, so long as they should 
be dwelling in Burton-upon-Trent, and occupied in 
cloth-making there, and in their default, to some 
clothier there of his name and kin, and in default 


CHARITIES. 


100 


of such clothier there, then to some other clothier 
there, of his name, he declared his will to be that in 
default of such last mentioned clothier there, the 
same £40 should be from time to time, lent from 
five years to five years, if the borrower should so 
long live, to some such other clothier and clothiers, 
qualified as aforesaid, as should be dwelling in the 
town of Burton-upon-Trent, and should use and 
occupy cloth-making there; and that six score 
pounds, residue of the said eight score pounds, 
should be lent for five years, if the borrower should 
so long live, to four honest persons, being clothiers, 
qualified as aforesaid, as should dwell in Burton- 
upon-Trent, and use the trade of cloth-making 
there; and after the same time expired, for other 
five years from thenceforth next ensuing to 20 such 
honest persons, being clothiers of smaller wealth 
and ability, or else to other handicraft men, as should 
dwell in Burton-upon-Trent, and use their handi¬ 
crafts there, viz.: 6Z. a piece, if they should so long 
live; and after the same times expired, then for 
other five years, to four honest persons being 
clothiers, dwelling &c., as aforesaid, 80/. a piece; 
and after that time for five other years, to twenty 
other persons as aforesaid, and so alternately for 
ever, and that every such borrower should find three 
sufficient sureties, to be bound with him by their 
deed obligatory to the bailiffs and citizens of Lich¬ 
field, in double the sum borrowed, for the repayment 
thereof, at the end of the specified time ; and that 


no 


BTTRTOW-U PON-TE EXT. 


the borrowers should pay for making the obligations, 
and be at no other charge concerning the money ; 
and that no borrower of the 40/. (other than those 
of his kin and name), or of the several sums of 30/. 
and 67. should have the same for more than five 
years together, if there should be any other cloth¬ 
iers or handicrafts men, living in Burton, and using 
their trades or handicrafts there, except there should 
be some urgent and apparent cause; those of his 
blood and kindred to be preferred to have one of 
the said 30/., or five of his blood and kindred to 
have five of the loans of 61. 

“ The sum of 160/. given for loans, at Burton- 
upon-Trent, is applied as follows :—The sum of 40/. 
is lent from five years to five years, and the sum of 
120/. alternately, in four sums of 30/., and 20 of 6/. 
for five years. There appear to be no descendants 
of the donor’s nephew, Wiliam Caldwall, or any 
others of his name or kindred, in Burton, qualified 
to receive the loans ; and the money is lent to 
tradesmen and manufacturers of different descrip¬ 
tions, clothiers being considered entitled to a pre¬ 
ference. The bailiffs of Lichfield go over to Burton 
at the time when the securities are to be renewed, 
and they receive applications for, and advance the 
loans. The securities used to be taken in the man¬ 
ner directed bv the donor; but on the last occasion 
a joint and several bond for 160/. was taken from 
the persons to whom the loans were made, as sureties 
for each other, in order to avoid the expense.” 




EUrm’ffdDET flISJfT. 






Ill 


ANCIENT HOUSES. 


The following information respecting the ancient 
mansion of the Blounts, who inhabited the town in 
the reign of Queen Elizabeth, is derived from Shaw, 
who says, “ Their old house is still remaining in the 
lower part of the town, and known by the name of 
Nether or Lower Hall, and was, by the last owner, 
of that name sold to Sir George Glresley, who did 
not (says an old historian) long keep the same, nor 
those he sold it to, having changed masters four or 
five times, since the Blounts parted with it. It is 
now come to captain Daniel Watson, a barris¬ 
ter of Gray’s Inn, and justice of peace in this 
county, and a captain for the rebels, and son of 
Henry Watson, a tanner in this town, and was sold 
to him, as I take it, by Richard Almond, or his wife, 
that was son and heir of James Almond, of Stafford, 
who had purchased the same.” Afterwards this 
house was occupied by Mr Pyecroft, who bequeathed 
it to Mrs Gresley, widow of Dr. Gresley of Nether- 
seal ; and subsequently it was inhabited by Mr Bass, 
grandfather of the present respected family of that 
name. 

This ancient house is now greatly dilapidated, and 
is tenanted by several poor families. Some remains 



112 


13UHT0]S T -I T P0^ T -TRE]SrT. 


of carving and other ornaments may still be seen in 
several of the apartments, which bespeak its former 
opulent owners. 

In the centre of High Street is a spacious brick 
house, which underwent a thorough restoration a 
few years since. It is of ancient date, and formerly 
belonged to the family of Every, of Egginton : it is 
now occupied by Mr Gretton. 

Shaw mentions, (1706) a remarkable old house, 
standing at the corner of the Market Place, “hav¬ 
ing many curious Gothic ornaments sculptured on 
the wooden pillars and beams on the outside, gene¬ 
rally supposed to have been brought from some 
other house or place of worship; but they are, no 
doubt, coeval with the present fabric, which was 
probably a prebendal house at the time the abbey 
was converted into a collegiate church.” This house 
is now occupied by Mr Ash, and other tenants. The 
ornamental front has however been removed to 
widen the street. 

In Burton-extra is an ancient and picturesque 
half-timbered house, known as the “old farm,” and 
said to have once belonged to the abbey. 


113 


TOWNSHIPS IN BUIITON PARISH. 


BKANSTON 

Is a scattered village in a low situation, near the 
Trent, upon the old Roman Icknield Street, now the 
Burton and Lichfield road. It is distant from Bur¬ 
ton about 2 miles to the south-west. 

This small village is noticed in history before the 
conquest. The document relating to it is believed 
to be the most ancient relative to the county of 
Stafford, as it bears the date of a. d . 956, when king 
Edwy, by his charter, signed by himself and his son, 
by Odo the archbishop, several bishops and dukes, 
granted to his faithful servant or thane, JEadwig, 8 
manms (farms) of land at Brantestune for his life, 
with permission at his death to leave them to whom 
he pleased, to be inherited for ever. 

This estate was afterwards possessed by Grodeva, 
wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, who bequeathed it, 
with her other estates, to her son Algar. It subse¬ 
quently became the property of Burton abbey. 

The following notice of Branston is from Domes¬ 
day Book:—“ The Abbey held Brantestone , which 
the Lady Grodeva before held.” It then consisted 
of one hide and a half; the arable land was five 
oarucates, one and a half of which were in demesne, 



114 


EUETO^-UPOiN-TEENT. 


and five villans and three bordars had three caru- 
cates. There were twenty-four acres of meadow, a 
wood half a mile in length and the same in breadth. 
It was worth sixty shillings, but then only forty. 

The manor and estate passed with the rest of the 
abbey property, at the dissolution, to Sir W. Paget, 
and in descent to the present noble owner. 

In the third year of the reign of Edward VI., 
Branston contained 25 houses and various lands and 
tenements of the value of xxixl. xvis. iiiid. 

AVhen hearth money was collected in the reign of 
Charles II., there were 44 hearths, which paid 
£4 8s. Od. 

In the present day Branston contains no object 
worthy of particular remark. A neat chapel belong¬ 
ing to the Independents was erected a few years 
ago ; there is also a national school. 


HOENINGLOW 

Is another considerable hamlet in the parish of 
Burton, about one mile distant from the town. It 
derives its name from its situation on a hill, which 
projects into the extensive plain near where the 
Trent and Dove unite: Horn signifying a corner, 
ing, a meadow ; and low , a brow, (i. e.) a meadow at 
the corner of a hill. 

Horninglow is not mentioned in Domesday book, 
but in the reign of Henry I. about 1125, we find 
it recorded as one of the many estates that be- 



HAMLETS. 


115 


longed to Burton Abbey, and the names of several 
individuals are introduced as bolding tbeir lands 
under the abbot. It passed, at the reformation, 
with the remainder of the parish, into the family of 
the present noble proprietor. 

The Grand Trunk Canal passes the village, occa¬ 
sioning an increase in the population, owing to the 
extensive wharfs and warehouses which have been 
formed upon its banks. A neat School House has 
recently been erected in the centre of the village, 
by subscription ; it is also used for the performance 
of divine service, as a district chapel, under the 
care of the incumbent and curates of Holy Trinity 
Chapel, Burton. The other place of worship is a 
Wesleyan Chapel. 


STRETTOIL 

This Township lies about a mile and a half north 
west of Burton, near the Homan Icknield Street, 
and from its name, may be supposed to have been 
a place of Roman origin. 

Hr. Plot says, “ Though there are no military sta¬ 
tions on this road mentioned by Antonine, yet 
doubtless there were such, these ways being raised 
for avoiding the trouble and danger of marching in 
strange countries, and the mansions settled on them 
at convenient distances, for the safe repose of their 
armies at night: whereof it is like S free they, near 
Lichfield, was one; and Stretton, near Burton, 
another; these two being as far distant on the 

L 



116 


BURTON-UPON-TREHT. 


Ickenild as Wall and Stretton on the Watling- 
street.” This remark of the historian is confirmed 
by Richard of Cirencester, who notices the station 
of Ad Trivonam , as being twelve miles from Der- 
ventio, now r Little Chester, near Derby, and twelve 
miles from JEtocetum (wall) near Lichfield all of 
these being on the Icknield Street. 

Stretton, in the present day, is an iu considerable 
village, principally situated on the side of a genth 
eminence, overlooking the valleys of the Trent ano 
Dove. The church is a plain modern building o 
brick. 

At Dove Cliff, in this parish, are extensive Iron 
Works, and the pleasant mansion of E. Thornewill, 
Esq. Near Dove Cliff, the Grand Trunk Canal 
passes over the River Dove on a substantial aque¬ 
duct of 23 inches. 


WINSHILL. 

This is another small member of Burton Parish, 
situated in the county of Derbv, one mile east of 
Burton. The village is extremely rural and delight¬ 
fully situated in a secluded valley, abounding in pure 
springs of water; it contains also numerous gardens 
and orchards. The places of worship are a small 
district chapel, also used as a school, and a Wes¬ 
leyan chapel. In this township, on the banks of 
the Trent, are extensive mills. 


Besides the above, the Hamlets of Shobnall 




HAMLETS. 


117 


and Wetmore are included in the parish of Burton- 
on- Trent. The former was an ancient grange be¬ 
longing to the abbey, and is situated about a mile 
west of the town, and close beneath the eminence, 
Sinai Park. At the dissolution, this property was 
granted, in common with almost all in Burton par¬ 
ish, to Sir William Paget. Sinai Park was so called 
by the Abbots of Burton, in allusion to Mount 
Sinai. It appears to have been a country seat of 
the Abbots, adjoining the extensive farm in the val¬ 
ley below. The situation is peculiarly fine, com¬ 
manding an extensive and beautiful view of the vale 
of the Trent, the town of Burton and the adjacent 
hills. 

Wetmore, or as it was formerly written Withmrre, 
is a small hamlet, situated in the meadows, half a 
mile north of the town. It formerly contained an 
extensive grange belonging to the Abbey, which 
King Ethelred granted, in 1012, to the Pirst abbot, 
Wulgelus, forlxx. pounds in gold and silver. 


118 


NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES. 


ALEEWAS 

Is an extensive village pleasantly situated on tlie 
south bank of the Trent, opposite to Wiclmor, one 
mile W. of the mouth of the river Tame, and five 
and a half miles N. E. of Lichfield. Its centre is 
crossed by the Trent and Mersey canal, and its eas¬ 
tern extremity by the Burton road. The parish is 
an extensive and level district, comprising the three 
townships of Alrewas, Eradley, and Orgreave, in 
which are 1607 inhabitants, and 5249 acres of rich 
grazing land, of which, 2249 acres were not enclosed 
till after the year 1794. This is exclusive of Alre¬ 
was Hay, which is extra parochial, and was not 
wholly enclosed till after the year 1826. The Earl 
of Lichfield is lord of the manor, and owner of 
nearly all the land. He is also lessee of the rector¬ 
ial tithes under the Chancellor of Lichfield Cathe¬ 
dral, who enjoys the Prebend of Alrewas, instituted 
by the Bishop of Lichfield in 822. In the time of 
the Saxons this extensive manor belonged to Algar, 
Earl of Mercia. It was afterwards held by the 
Conqueror, and is described in Domesday booh as 
containing eight carucates of arable land; two in 
demesne, and six held by a bondman, 20 villans, 6 



NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES. 


119 


bordars, and a priest; together with twenty-four 
acres of meadow; a fishery that yielded 1500 eels, 
and a wood, one mile in length, and half a mile in 
breadth. King John granted the manor in fee-farm 
to Roger de Somerville, and in 1660, it was sold by 
Sir Francis Boynton,, for £3,130, to John and Philip 
Turton, Esqrs., whose descendant, John Turton, 
Esq., of Shugnall, sold it in 1752, to that distin¬ 
guished naval commander, the first Lord Anson, 
from whom it has descended to the Earl of Lichfield. 
[Vide Shugborough.] The parish church, dedica¬ 
ted to All Saints, is a fine specimen of Saxon archi¬ 
tecture, but it has undergone many repairs, and over 
the western door is the date 1627. The Chancellor 
of Lichfield is its prebendary, and also patron of 
the vicarage, which is now enjoyed by the Rev. John 
Moore, M. A. Among the remarkable events re¬ 
corded in the Register Book are the following:— 
On Rov. 11th, 1585, “ a blazing star,” (comet) ap¬ 
peared, and was seen for forty days after ; in 1593, 
the Plague carried off 200 at Alrewas, and more 
than 1100 at Lichfield; iu 1601, Salter’s Bridge, 
which crosses the Tame, was rebuilt two feet broa¬ 
der than the old structure; in 1613, Robert Nevill 
and his son were killed by lightning, under an oak 
in Salterholme field; in 1614, the mill at Alrewas- 
Hav was re-built; 1662, King James was at 

Wichnor Hall; 1643, an ale house near the church 
was burnt down, together with an adjoining house 

and barn ; 1675, on January 4th, a terrible earth- 

l 2 


120 


BURTON-UPO^-TREM’. 


quake was felt; 1711, all the church bells were re¬ 
cast. 

A Wesleyan Chapel was built here in 1805 ; one 
for the Primitive Methodists in 1828; and a National 
►School in 1815. The parish feast is on the Sunday 
after All Saints’ day. In 1832, the parishioners 
erected May Poles in the three townships of the 
parish, with suitable inscriptions, to commemorate 
the passing of the Reform Bill, and as a testimony 
of their gratitude to Earl Lichfield for the firm and 
unremitting zeal which he displayed in supporting 
that great national measure. 


BRETBY 

Is a parish and well built village, 3 miles E. from 
Burton-upon-Trent, contains 1505 acres of fertile 
land, 65 houses, and 265 inhabitants. Population 
in 1831, 325 ; rateable value £2,104. The Earl of 
Chesterfield is the sole owner, lord of the manor— 
which formerly was a portion of that of Bepton— 
impropriator of the tithes, and patron of the church 
of which the living is a donative; value £30; Rev. 
John Tetley Smith, B.A., incumbent. It is a small 
structure, with a tower and three bells, and is very 
neatly fitted up. At Domesday survey, the manor, 
which had belonged to Earl Algar, was part of the 
royal demesne. It afterwards belonged to the Earl 
of Chester, and passed to the Seagraves with a part 
of the manor of Bepton. John de Seagrave, who 
was the king’s lieutenant in Scotland, and taken 



NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES. 


121 


prisoner at the battle of Bannockburn, was sum¬ 
moned to parliament as a baron in 1295. In 1300 
be bad tbe king’s license to castellate bis mansion 
at Bretby. Bretby Castle passed with tbe manors 
to tbe Mowbrays—Lords Mowbray and Dukes of 
Norfolk. One of tbe co-heiresses of this noble 
family brought Bretby to the Lords Berkley. In 
1585, tbe castle and manor of Bretby was purchased 
of tbe Berkley family by Sir Thomas Stanhope, 
grandfather of Philip, the first Earl of Chesterfield. 
In the month of November, 1642, the Earl of Chest¬ 
erfield fortified his house at Bretby, and garrisoned 
it with forty musketeers and sixty horse. Sir John 
Grell having intelligence of it, sent four hundred 
foot, with a party of dragoons, under the command 
of Major Molanus. After a short defence, the Earl 
and his party fled through the park towards Lich¬ 
field, and the house was plundered. The countess, 
who was the daughter of the loyal Sir John Pack- 
ington, refusing to pay any composition to prevent 
it, declaring she would not give them one penny; 
but the officers saved her own chamber with all her 
goods. Philip, the second Earl resided much at 
Bretby. Bretby castle, the site of which is discern- 
able near the church, is said to have been a building 
of great strength, and consisted of two courts, and 
was standing in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The 
first Earl of Chesterfield is supposed to have erec¬ 
ted a noble mansion at Bretby, of stone, with a 
curious chapel, in the midst of a large well-wooded 


122 


EUETO^-UPCm-TRENT. 


park, with gardens, fountains, labyrinths, groves, Ac., 
all said to have been peculiarly curious and pleasant, 
suitable to the genius of the owner, who was the 
chief contriver of them. This mansion was taken 
down in the year 1780. The present hall is a quad¬ 
rangular castellated mansion, which had been several 
years in building, and was left unfinished at the death 
of its noble owner, in 1815. The greater part of 
it had been fitted up and inhabited, the building has 
since been discontinued and remains unfinished. It 
has extensive pleasure grounds, terraces, gardens, 
&c., situated in the midst of a park containing up¬ 
wards of 400 acres of land, well wooded,, and varied 
and picturesque scenery. On the east side of the 
house is preserved a cedar of Lebanon, which, as 
appears by the gardener’s bill, in the Earl’s posses¬ 
sion, was planted in the month of February, 1676-7. 
It is probably the oldest cedar in England, for, ac¬ 
cording to Evelyn, the cedar had not been brought 
into this country in 1664. It is one of the seats 
of its noble owner, George Augustus Frederick, 
Earl of Chesterfield. The late Earl resided wholly 
at Bretby during the latter part of his life, and 
dedicated a considerable portion of his time to Agri¬ 
culture, having one of the most complete farming 
establishments in this part of England. The chapel 
of Bretby with the tithes were parcel of the rectory 
of Bepton, which belonged to the priory of that 
place. It passed with one of the co-heiresses of 
Porte to the family of Hastings, and appears to 


NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES. 


123 


have been brought to the Stanhope family by the 
marriage of the first Earl of Chesterfield with a 
daughter of Francis, Lord Hastings. The Earl 
supports a free school for 21 boys and 21 girls, 
which was established in 1806. 


CHURCH GRESLEY 

Parish and township, contains also the townships 
of Castle Gresley, Donisthorpe, Drakelow, Linton, 
Oakthorpe, and Swadlincote, comprising together 
6,700 acres of land, 2,761 inhabitants, and is partly 
situated in Leicestershire. 

Church Grresley, a township and considerable 
village on the Leicestershire border, 5 miles S. E. b. 
S. from Burton-on-Trent, and 5 miles W. b. N. from 
Asbby-de-la-Zouch, contains 1,165 acres of fertile 
land, 193 houses, and 993 inhabitants, of whom 531 
were males and 162 females, rateable value £2,880. 
William Eaton Mousley, Esq., is lord of the manor. 
The other owners are—Marquis of Hastings, Lord 
Tynemouth, Court Granville, Esq., Thomas Brown, 
Esq., Thomas G-ee, Esq., and S. P. Wolverstone, Esq. 
The church, dedicated to St. Mary and St. George, 
is a perpetual curacy, valued in the king’s book at 
£5 16s. 8d., now £108, has been augmented with 
£200 benefactions, £800 Queen Anne’s bounty, and 
£1,300 parliamentary grant. Bev. George Wood 
Lloyd, D. D., is the patron and incumbent. The 
church is an ancient structure, built in the reign of 
Henry I. by Nigel de Gresley, who founded here a 



124 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT. 


priory of Austin monks, and dedicated it to St. 
Mary and St. George. It was endowed with lands 
chiefly in this parish, valued at the dissolution at 
£39 13s. 8d. Of this building which adjoined the 
parish church, there are no remains. In 1842 a 
gallery was erected in the church at the cost of £70 
raised by subscription. Here are some ancient 
monuments to the Aleyne and Gresley families. 
King Henry VIII. granted the site in 1543 to 
Henry Criche ; in the year 1556, Sir Christopher 
Aleyne, Knt., purchased this estate, with the manor 
of Church Gresley, of the Seymours. It afterwards 
belonged to theMeynells, of whom it was purchased, 
about the 1775, by Sir Nigel Gresley, Bart. A 
national school for boys- and girls was erected in 
1818, and enlarged in 1824, at a cost of £300, paid 
by the late Edward Smith, Esq., of Burton. 
Here are extensive collieries and considerable 
potteries, which give employment to a large number 
of persons. The clay is of an excellent quality, 
and considerable quantities of it are sent to Sheffield 
and other places, for making casting pots for foun¬ 
ders and steel, refiners. The Hall, i mile N. W. 
now a farm house, is subject to a payment 
to the incumbent of the church of £5 13s. 4d. 
The other scattered farms are the Cottage , \ mile S. 
E.; Farthcote , 1 mile N. AV.; Far Lees , 1| miles,. 
N. W.; Lark Farms , 1 mile S. AV.; and Wood 
Farm , f mile N. 

Castle Gresley., township and small village on. 


NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES. 


125 


the Burton and Tamworth road, 4 miles S.E. by S. 
from Burton-on-Trent, contains 563 acres of fertile 
land 35 houses and 164 inhabitants—of whom 90 
are males and 74 females. Bateable value £1,026. 
The owners are Bobert Beard, Henry Clay, Henry 
Allsopp, and Morris Piddock, Esqrs. The parsonage 
is a handsome mansion, 1 mile W. from the par¬ 
ish church, which was erected in 1837, at a 
cost of £1,200, and conveyed to the governors of 
Queen Anne’s bounty, by the present patron and 
incumbent, for the use of all future incumbents. 
The manor of Castle Gresley belonged from a very 
early period to the ancient family of De Gresley, 
who had a castle at this place. The site is distin¬ 
guished only by slight eminences and inequalities in 
the ground. 

Drake low, a township and scattered district of 
farms, extending 2 to 4 miles S.S.W. from Burton- 
upon-Trent, and about the same distance N. by W. 
from Church Gresley, contains 1,287 acres of fertile 
sandy land, 9 houses, and 62 inhabitants—of whom 
33 were males and 29 females. Bateable value, £1, 
933. The Hall, a handsome stone mansion, plea¬ 
santly situated in a fine park of 120 acres, was 
erected by the late Sir Nigel Gresley, but is now 
the seat and property of Henry "William Des Yceux, 
Esq., who is the sole owner and lord of the manor. 
This manor, in the Domesday book, is described as 
belonging to Nigel de Stafford, ancestor of the Gres¬ 
ley Family, by the service of rendering a bow, a 


126 


BUETON-ITPON-TEENT. 


quiver, and twelve arrows, which in 1200 was due 
to William Earl Ferrars. Geoffrey de Gresley in 
1330 claimed the right of having a gallows at Gres¬ 
ley and at Drakelow. The Gresley family have at 
various times from the reign of Henry I., represen¬ 
ted the county in parliament. George Gresley was 
installed a knight of the bath at the coronation of 
Anne Boleyne, in 1534. His grandson, of the same 
name was created a baronet in 1611. Sir George 
Gresley was an active officer during the civil war, 
and was lieutenant-colonel to Sir John Gell, one of 
the Parliamentary generals. 

Swadlincote, a township and considerable village 
4f miles S. E. b. E. from Burton-on-'Trent, contains 
180 houses, of which 22 were unoccupied in 1841, 
and 858 inhabitants, of whom 432 were males and 
426 females. In 1801, the population was 216, in 
1831, 645. The principal owners are—the Earl of 
Chesterfield, Court Granville, Esq., Thomas Erancis, 
Esq., Samuel Bucknell, John Bodell, Hugh Brookes. 
James Turner, Charles Brunt, Moses Cartwright, and 
others. Here are colleries and extensive potteries 
for the manufacture of yellow' ware, and the clay is 
excellent for making fire bricks, of which many are 
made. A neat church was erected in 1846, by 
subscription. The Methodists have a chapel. Court 
Granville, Esq., and Moses Cartwright, Esq., are 
the colliery owners. 

CATTON 

Is a tow nship and small scattered village on the 



NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES. 


127 


Trent, 6| miles S. from Burton-on-Trent, and li 
N.W. from Croxall, contains 1,064a. 2r. 14p. of 
strong good wheat land, 8 houses, and 47 inhabitants. 
Rateable value, £2,000. Lady Wilmot Horton is 
the owner, who pays all the tithe and rates. By 
the commutation of tithe, the rent charge to the 
vicar amounts to £01 15 s., and the full value of 
the whole is £200. The Hall is a noble brick man¬ 
sion, pleasantly situated in a fine park on the east 
bank of the Trent. The seat of Lady Wilmot Hor¬ 
ton and three other farms are in most pleasant sit¬ 
uations. The Calton farm and the Donkhill Pitt 
farm, 2 miles N.W. from Croxall Church, and the 
Mansditch, a little more north. 


ETWALL 

Parish consists of the townships of Etwall, Bear- 
wardcote, and Burnaston, which together contain 
2,868 acres of land, 689 inhabitants. Rateable value 
£4,285. In 1801, population 621; in 1831, 605. 

Etwall is a township and large well-built village, 6 
miles W.S.W. from Derby, contains 1,980 acres of 
land, a clay loam, (except the common, which is 
light on a sub-stratum of gravel,) 125 houses, and 
510 inhabitants—of whom 239 were males and 271 
females. Rateable value, £3,314. The Rev. Charles 
Evelyn Cotton is lord of the manor and a small 
owner. A. N. E. Mosley, Esq., Sir Henry Every, 
Mr. Anthony Harding, Mr. Thomas Richardson, W. 
T. Cox, Esq., Mr. Thomas Eyre, and several others 



128 


BUETON-UPOK-TIIE^T. 


are owners. The church, St. Helen’s, is a vicarage, 
valued in the king’s hooks at £8, now £342, 'Wil¬ 
liam Eaton Mousley, Esq. patron, and Key William 
Eaton Mousley, M.A., incumbent. It is a neat 
structure, with nave, chancel, north aisle, low em¬ 
battled tower, and 3 bells ; has a spacious gallery at 
the west end. The north side, a portion of which 
contains twelve carved oak stalls and a reading desk, 
is appropriated to the use of the almsmen and the 
master. The church yard is nearly encircled with 
venerable lime trees. This church received much 
damage from a violent storm 20th June, 1545. It 
contains the tomb of Henry Porte, Esq., dated 1512, 
and Elizabeth his wife. The figures of the wife and 
seventeen children are in brass; also several tablets to 
the Every, Green, Beer, and Cotton families, and 
the masters of Etwall almshouses. William 
Boultbee Sleath, H.I)., E.S.A., rural dean, vicar 
of Willington, was master of this hospital and Bep- 
ton school for 32 years ; he died 21st Oct. 1842, aged 
82 years. The vicar lias a neat vicarage house, 
105 acres of glebe, and a common allotment, with a 
tithe-rent charge of £92 9s. 8d., including a small 
modus and the rent-charge at Burnaston, of £59 
18s. 6d. Etwall lodge, a neat modern house, be¬ 
longing to the corporation, was erected in 1812, by 
the Bev. William Beer, master of the hospital. The 
hospital at Etwall was founded by Sir John Porte, 
in the year 1556, for 6 poor persons. It appears by 
an inscription that it was re-built in 1681, and at 


NEIGHBOURING TILLAGES. 129 

tlie same time tlie number of almsmen was doubled, 
and the salaries increased, in consequenee of the 
improved value of the estates left for this hospital 
and the school at Hep ton. The masters of the hos¬ 
pital and school, the ushers, and 3 senior poor men, 
are a body corporate by the name of tlie llepton and 
Etwall Corporation. There are 338a. 1b. 30p. of 
land in this parish; it is valued at £606, and be¬ 
longs to the corporation, besides estates in Willing- 
ton, Hepton, Egginton, Normanton, &c., amounting 
to about £2,700 per annum. The governors are 
the Marquis of Hastings, Earl of Chesterfield, and 
Sir John G-erard, Bart. The hospital stands on the 
north side of the church; it is built of brick, with 
stone dressings, and is capable of accommodating 
16 poor men, of whom 4 have 16s. per week, 2 have 
15s., 6 have 12s., and 4 have 10s. per week. They 
have each on entering a blue cloak. The master’s 
salary is.£200 per annum. There is also a school 
endowed with £5 per annum, by Howland Cotton 
or Mary his wife. The Methodist chapel is a hand¬ 
some building, lighted by ten gothic windows, and 
will seat 250 persons ; it was erected in 1838, by 
Arthur Minton Esq., at a cost of £300, and was 
sold to the society for £100. King Henry VIII., 
in 1540, granted the manor and impropriate rectory 
and advowson of the vicarage, (which had been given 
to Welbec Abbey, Nottinghamshire, in the reign of 
King Steven) to Sir John Porte, knt., one of the 
justices of the King’s bench. The elder daughter, 


130 


BURTOK-UPON-TREITT. 


and co-lieiress of his son, brought Etwall to Sir 
Thomas Gerard; in 1641 this estate was sold to Sir 
Edward Moseley, Bart., of whom it was purchased 
in 1646, by Sir Samuel Sleigh. The Hall is a large 
venerable brick mansion faced with stone brought 
from Tutbury Castle, about 200 years ago ; it con¬ 
tains many splendid apartments, and in the picture 
gallery are some exquisite carvings in wood. The 
gardens, which are kept in the old style, are extensive, 
and in them is a mulberry tree, of which several 
branches, bending to the ground, have taken root. 
The Hall is the property of the Eev. C.E. Cotton, 
of Dalbury. 


EOREMARK: 

Parish contains the townships of Eoremark and 
Ingleby, which together contain 2,224 acres cf land, 
a light soil producing good barley and seeds. Pop¬ 
ulation in 1801, 209 ; in 1831,221. Rateable value, 
£2,845. 

Eoremark township and small scattered village, is 
6^ miles S.S.W. from Derby, contains 1,368 acres 
of land, 11 houses, and 55 inhabitants. Rateable, 
value, £1,505. 

Sir Robert Burdett, Bart., is owner, impropriator, 
and patron of the church, St. Saviour, a perpetual 
curacy, valued at £30, augmented with £400of Queen 
Anne’s bounty, and £200 by parliamentary grant. 
The Rev. W. Heacoek, is the incumbent, for whom 
the Rev. James Garvey officiates. The church is a 






Foremark Hall. 
































IVEIGHEOURllSrG VILLAGES’. 


131 


small structure with nave, chancel, low tower and 4 
bells, it was erected in 1662, by Sir Francis Burdett, 
Bart., and in 1S19 a gallery was erected at the west 
end. The nave is separated from the chancel by a 
handsomely carved oak screen. In this church 
many of the Burdett family are interred. The an¬ 
cient church, which was an appendage to the priory 
of Repton, stood in the township of Ingleby. The 
Hall , is a substantial mansion and the seat of Sir 
Robert Burdett, it was erected about the year 1762. 
Anchor Churchy near the Trent, is a singular rocky 
bank which presents the appearance of an edifice 
in ruins, and consists of 4 rooms, which tradition 
asserts to have been the abode of an anchorite, but 
some suppose it to have been a summer house for 
the amusement of fishing; it is said that human 
bones have been found here. The manor, at Domes¬ 
day survey belonged to Nigel de Stafford. In the 
reign of Henry II. it was given by Robert de Fer¬ 
rers, Earl of Derbv, to Bertram de Verdon in mar- 
riage with one of his daughters. It was purchased 
of the Verdons before the year 1387, by Sir Robert 
Francis, who obtained a confirmation of free warren 
from the crown in 1397. The heiress of Francis 
married Thomas Burdett, Esq., of Bramcote, in 
Warwickshire, who was created a baron in 1618. 


HARTSHORN 

Parish and considerable village, is situated on the 

Derby and Leicester road, 4 miles N.W. from 

M 2 



132 


BUETOJr-UPOJS’-TEEJTT* 


Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 11 miles S. by W. from Derby, 
contains 2,800 acres of strong fertile land, 287 
houses, andl,389 inhabitants. Population in 1801,580; 
in 1831, 1204. Rateable value, £4,560. The Earl 
of Chesterfield is lord of the manor and principal 
owner. Samuel Biddulph, Hopkins Chamberlain, 
William Wilder, Hugh Brooks, Charles Baker, and 
James Watts, Esqrs., are also owners. The 
church, dedicated to St. Peter, is a rectory, valued 
in the King’s books at £3 2s. Id., now £570. It 
is in the patronage of the Earl of Chesterfield and 
others. The Rev. William Henry Buckley is rector. 
The church was rebuilt in 1835, except the chancel 
and tower, at a cost of £1,400, and the seats are all 
unappropriated and free. The rectoiy is a hand¬ 
some mansion, east of the church, and was rebuilt 
by the present incumbent in 1835. At the enclo¬ 
sure in 1766, 394 acres of land were awarded in 
lieu of tithes. This manor, at Domesday survey 
belonged to Earl Ferrars. The Priory and Convent 
at Repton had lands and a moiety of a park in 
Hartshorn. In 1504, John Ireland held the manor 
of Hartshorn ITpperhall, under William Abel, and 
Netherhall under the Earl of Shrewsbury. After 
the decease of Sir William Compton, in 1528, this 
property passed from the Compton to the Cantrell 
family. The heiress of Cantrell married the grand¬ 
father of William Bailey Cant, Esq., who died in 
1800, and bequeathed this manor and other estates 
to Lord Erskine, (then at the bar) for his able de- 


NEIGHBOURING TILLAGES. 


133 


fence of Jobm Horne Tooke and other persons, who 
were tried for high treason in 1794. In consequence 
of certain legal processes, the intention of the tes¬ 
tator was defeated, and Miss Partridge, one of the 
cousins and co-heiresses of Mr. Cant, carried this 
manor to John Murcot, Esq. On the borders of 
Leicestershire was a small manor called Short Ilazles 
which belonged to the family of the Hoyles, and was 
divided into severalities. The learned and eloquent 
George Stanhope, D.D., dean of Canterbury, was 
born at Hartshorn, in March 1661, his father the 
Rev. Thomas Stanhope, being then rector. The Rev. 
Stebbing Shaw, the historian of Staffordshire, suc*- 
ceeded his father in the rectory of Hartshorn. He 
died in London in 1803, and was buried at Harts¬ 
horn. Coal and iron stone abound here, but are not 
worked at present, and an extensive screw manu¬ 
factory, which gave employment to a number of hands, 
has been discontinued. Nether Hall , a handsome 
mansion 1£ mile W. of the village, is the seat of 
Thomas Worthington, Esq. Old Midway is mile 
W. by S. 

Woodyille, a small village partly in Ashby-de- 
la-Zouch parish, 1| mile S. S. W. from Hartshorn. 
Here are several extensive earthenware manufacto¬ 
ries. A petty session for the counties of Derby, 
Leicester, and Stafford, is held at the Potters’ Arms, 
every other Tuesday. 

LULLINGTON 

Parish contains the townships of Lullington and 


134 


BURTO^-IirON-TEEFT". 


Coton-in-the-Elins, which together have 2,919 acres 
of land, and 653 inhabitants. Rateable value, 
£4,564. Population in 1801, 245 ; in 1831, 548. 

Lelli^gtox is a township and pleasant village, 
74 miles S. from Burton-upon-Trent, contains 1,756 
acres of light but rich land, particularly celebrated 
for its excellent cheese, and contains 61 houses, and 
299 inhabitants. Rateable value, £2,785. C. R. 
Colville, Esq., M. P., is sole owner, lord of the manor 
and impropriator. The church, dedicated to All 
Saints, is a vicarage, valued in the King’s book at 
£4 11s. 10d., now £140, in the patronage of the 
crown. The Rev. Theodore Echalaz, M. A., is 
incumbent. It is an ancient structure,, with nave r 
chancel, tower and spire, with 6 bells.. The vicarage 
is a handsome mansion west of the church. A neat 
school was erected near the east end of the church 
by the lord of the manor, in 1843, which he also sup¬ 
ports. The village has been considerably improved 
within the last few years. The lordship adjoins 
several preserved manors, and forms part of the 
Atherstone Hunt.. It is a salubrious and picturesque 
district of productive forward land. The village is 
54 miles and 33 yards from Walton railway station, 
and 44 miles and 118 yards from Oakley station. 
The manor of Lulletune was in the Gresley family in 
the reign of Edward I., and the church was given by 
that family to the priory of Gresley, and appropria¬ 
ted to that monastery in the reign of the second 
Edward. 


NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES. 


135 


Coton-in-tiie-Elms is a township and pleasant 
village, 61 miles S. by W. from Burton-upon-Trent, 
Ilf mile N. N. W. from Lullington, contains 1,163 
acres of fertile land, 72 houses, and 351 inhabitants. 
[Rateable value, £1,779. Lady "W.ilmot Horton is the 
principal owner and lady of the manor. Charles 
Arkwright, Esq., Nathaniel and John Curzon, Esqrs., 
have also estates here. The tithe was commuted in 
1841. The rectorial belongs principally to the land- 
owners, but £165 is payable from the vicarial to the 
trustees of the late Sir Roger Gresley. A church, 
dedicated to St. Mary, has been erected at a cost of 
£1,200, raised by subscription, towards which Lady 
Horton gave £400, and Charles Arkwright and 
Matthew Gisborne, Esqrs., were liberal contributors. 
The manor house, an ancient building, is now used 
as a school which the lady of the manor endows with 
£30 per annum. 50 boys and girls attend. In 
1773, Thomas Wa-gstaff left £50, by which 5 poor 
boys were educated. 


NEWTON SOLNEY, 

Is a parish and pleasant well-built village, 3 miles 
N. E. from Burton-upon-Trent, and 9 miles S. W. 
from Derby, contains 1,401 acres of rich land, 73 
houses, and 311 inhabitants. Population in 1801,181; 
in 1831, 338 ; rateable value £3,090 7s. Sir Henry 
Every, Bart., is lord of the manor and small owner, 
and has the fishery. The Earl of Chesterfield is 
principal owner, and has 120a. of woods and planta- 



136 


EURTON-UPCKN-TKENT. 


tions. Mrs. Thomas Higgott, Thomas Allsopp, Wil¬ 
liam Morley, William Wayte, William Dickon, Mrs. 
Somers, and Thomas Pearsall’s executors, are owners 
also. The church of St. Mary’s is a perpetual curacy, 
valued at £20; it was appropriated to Bepton 
Priory. Sir Henry Every is patron and impropriator, 
who pays a modus of 4s. 10|d. to the church, and 
£30 to the perpetual curate, the Eev. John Hare,B. A. 
The church has a nave, chancel, side aisles, a low 
tower and short spire, and gallery at the west end. 
Here is a neat tablet to Abraham Hoskins, Esq., 
who died 13th March, 1841, aged 83 ; also a hand¬ 
some monument to Sir Henry Every, of Egginton, 
who died 1st September, 1709, and in a recess is a 
figure in a coat of mail. The Castle is a handsome 
castellated mansion on a lofty eminence commanding 
extensive views, \ mile W. from the village, was 
erected by Abraham Hoskins, Esq., now the property 
of the Earl of Chesterfield. The Park is a large 
handsome mansion, situated near the west end of 
the village, having a fine view of the Trent. The 
Mount, a neat pleasant house on a rising ground, 
amidst shrubberies and plantations, 1 mile E.. from, 
the village, late the residence of Thomas Allsopp, 
Esq. The Pock House is a neat residence on, the 
north bank of the Trent, and near to which the river 
Dove has its confluence with the Trent. Margate , is 
a pasture containing about 60 a., on which the poor 
have the liberty of grazing a cow on payment of a 
small stipend.. The manor was held at an early pe-. 




































































Repton Church. 







































NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES. 137 

riod, under the Earls of Chester, by the ancient 
equestrian family of Solney, whose co-heiress married 
Sir Nicholas Longford and Sir Thomas Strafford, 
and was inhabited by the Longfords, of whom it was 
purchased by the Leighs about the reign of Henry 
VIII. The heiress of Leigh brought it to the Every 
family. About 1795, Abraham Hoskins, Esq., pur¬ 
chased the principal landed estates. The feast is 
held on the first Sunday after September 19th. 


REPTON 

Parish contains the townships of Lepton and 
Bretby, which is now considered a parish, 4,918 acres 
of land, 2,241 inhabitants. Population in 1801, was 
1,434 ; in 1831, 2,083. Lateable value, £9,257. 

Lepton is a township and considerable village, 
in which are some very neat houses, 4£ miles N. E. 
from Burton-upon-Trent, and 7 \ miles, S.S.AV. from 
Derby, contains 2,649 acres of clay land, which was 
enclosed in 1766, 378 houses, and 1,943 inhabitants. 
Lateable value, £6.294. Sir Lobert Burdett and 
Sir John Harpur Crewe, Bart., are joint lords of the 
manor and principal owners. Mr. Francis Holbrook, 
the executor of Thomas Pearsall, and those of Lady 
Gilbert, Mr. Thomas Higgott, and the Lev. J. T. 
Smith, are also owners. 3a. 2e. 10p. of land, let for 
£10 10s., belongs to, and is let for the reparation of 
the church, dedicated to St. Wyston, which is a per¬ 
petual curacy, certified at £123, and has been en¬ 
dowed with £200 of Queen Anne’s bounty. Sir 



138 


BTTETOJr-UPON-TBENT. 


Jolm Harpur Crewe, Bart., is patron, and the Bev. 
Joseph Jones, M. A. incumbent. The church is a 
venerable structure, with nave, chancel, side aisles 
and tower, surmounted by a handsome spire 210 feet 
high. It was re-pewed in 1795, and galleries on 
the south side and west end were erected in 1842, 
and an organ added in 1844, at a cost of £320, 
The crypt beneath the chancel is perhaps the most 
perfect specimen existing in the Anglo-Saxon style. 
It is supported by 4 pillars of singular character, 
with a spiral band or moulding round each, and is 
entered from the church by means of two winding 
passages. It doubtless formed a part of the convent¬ 
ual church, destroyed by the Danes. The church 
contains many ancient monuments to the masters of 
Etwall hospital and liepton grammar school. The 
school is a large stone building covered with flat tiles. 
The scholars on the foundation are reduced to 8 poor 
scholars, who are appointed by the governors in 
rotation; 4 of which receive £40 per annum for their 
board and education, and the other 4 have £45 each 
for the same purpose. The head master’s salary is 
£360; first usher, £180 ; second usher, £150 per 
annum. There are two exhibitions of £50 per annum 
to either university. The mansion in which the head 
master resides belongs to Sir B. Burdett, Bart. 
(For particulars of this charity see Sir John Port’s 
charity, Etwall.) The church school-room, erected 
in 1833, for which Sir George Crewe, Bart., gave the 
land, was defrayed by subscription. It was enlarged 


NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES. 


139 


in 1811, and is a neat ornamental building. A 
Sunday school of about 90 boys and 70 girls attend. 
The Independent Chapel was built in 1836, at a cost 
of £160, and enlarged in 1839, at a cost of £177, 
and will seat 100 persons. A house and garden for 
the minister cost £176 ; and in 1815, a school-room 
was added at a cost of £200, in which a British and 
Sunday school are kept; about 80 children attend. 
The Methodists have a neat brick chapel, erected in 
1815, to seat about 200 persons. In the village is 
an ancient stone cross, approached by 8 steps. It 
lias a plain round shaft with a ball on the top, and 
formerly had a market, long disused, but fairs are 
held on the third Monday in April and on the third 
Monday in November, and a statute for hiring 
servants on Tuesday before Old Michaelmas Day. 
A troop of yeomanry cavalry was raised here in 1813, 
under the command of C. B. Colville, Esq., M. P., 
George Vandeleur, Esq., King’s Newton, 1st lieu¬ 
tenant ; — Cave, Esq., Stretton-en-le-Eields, 2nd 
lieutenant; John IJardcastle Mouslev, Esq., Derby, 
cornet; and Mr. Joseph Hasard, of Melbourne, 
quarter-master. Here is a Freemasons’, and 2 Odd 
Fellows’ lodges, and 3 benefit societies. 

Repton Free School .—Sir John Port, Knt., in 
1556, devised certain lands to Sir Thomas Gifford, 
Knt., and four others, his Executors, for the founda¬ 
tion of an almshouse at Etwall, and a grammar school 

at Etwall or Bepton. (See Etwall.) 

N 


140 


BURTON-UPON-TREFT. 


ROLLESTON. 

Rolleston is an ancient village pleasantly situated 
in the valley of the Dove, about three and a half 
miles north west of Burton. The parish comprises 
the two townships of Rolleston and Anslow, con¬ 
taining together, about three thousand acres of 
land. 

The scenery of and around this parish, is of a 
pleasing character, being ornamented with fine woods 
and plantations, and in some portions which extend 
into Needwood, it retains somewhat of a forest-like 
character. The fine mansion and park of the prin¬ 
cipal land owner and lord of the manor is situated 
close to the village. The Manor was formerly 
possessed by the Rollestones, from whom it descen¬ 
ded to the ancestors of the present owner, Sir 
Oswald Mosley, Bart. 

The parish church is an ancient and picturesque 
structure, and is an interesting object amid the sur¬ 
rounding scenery. The living is a Rectory under 
the patronage of the Lord of the Manor. The 
present Rector is the Rev. P. P. Mosley. There is, 
also, a small Wesleyan Methodist chapel in the 
village. 

Rolleston Free School , was founded about 1520, 
by Robert Sherbourn, Bishop of Chester, who en¬ 
dowed it with £10 per annum ; this has since been 
augmented by various benefactions. The school is 
free to all sons of parishioners, and the present num¬ 
ber now under instruction is about forty-five. 


NEIGHBOUKING VILLAGES. 


141 


The Alms Houses were founded by William Roul- 
ston, in 1672, who in addition to bequests to the 
church, the school, and the poor, left property for 
the foundation of alms houses for poor aged parish¬ 
ioners. Owing to the increased value of property 
the number of alms people has been increased since 
the foundation, and now amounts to ten ; eight 
of whom receive four shillings per week, and two, 
three shillings per week, and all of them thirty 
shillings per year for coals and clothing. 


ROSLISTOH’ 

Is a parish and pleasant village, 5 miles S. by W. 
from Burton-on-Trent, comprises 1,186a. of fertile 
marl or clay land, 80 houses, and 227 inhabitants. 
Population, in 1801,257; inl831,360. Rateable value, 
£1,920. The joint lords of the manor and principal 
owners, are Mrs. E. Cox, Miss Evans, John Hamp, 
John Oldham, and John Wain, Esqrs., with a few 
other small owners. The church, dedicated to St. 
Mary, is a perpetual curacy annexed to the rectory 
of Walton-upon-Trent. The incumbent is the Rev. 
Thomas Perrott. It was rebuilt by subscription, 
aided by a grant of £50 from the incorporated so¬ 
ciety, and 200 sittings are unappropriated. Here 
are 58a. of glebe, and the tithe was commuted in 
1840, for £100. 307a. are tithe-free, and 517a. are 

covered by a modus. An Infant school has been 
established. The Eeast is on the first Sunday after 
September 12 th. 



142 


BTTRTON-TTPON-TRENT. 


Coton Parle , 2 miles S. W. from the village, is sur¬ 
rounded with a thriving plantation, and is the pro¬ 
perty of Bobert Aglionby Slaney, Esq. 

Coton Parle Farm, consists of 300a. of land, with 
a neat house, the property and residence of William 
Daniel, Esq. 


TATENHTLL. 

The parish of Tatenhill of which Barton is a mem¬ 
ber, contains about 9500 acres of land, and also in¬ 
cludes the townships of Wichnor and Dunstall. 

At Wichnor is the beautiful park and mansion 
of John Levett, Esq., it is seated on a fine eminence, 
overlooking the rivers Trent and Tame, and is about 
six miles from Burton. 

When this manor was held by Sir Philip Somer¬ 
ville, in the fourteenth century, several curious cus¬ 
toms were established here for the purpose of gain¬ 
ing the affections of the people; one of the most 
singular is that “ which requires the Lord of the man¬ 
or to keep a flitch of bacon hanging in his hall at 
Wichnor, at all times of the year, except in Lent, 
that it may be delivered to any man or woman who 
shall come and claim it, and at the same time swear 
that he or she has been married a year and a day 
without repenting; and that if they were then single, 
and wished to be married again, the demandant 
would take the same party again before any other 
in the world. Two neighbours were required to 
testify the truth of this deposition ; and if the claim- 



NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES. 


143 


ant was a freeman, lie received besides tbe bacon, 
half a quarter of wheat and cheese ; and if a villain, 
half a quarter of rye. These things with the bacon, 
were carried before him, with trumpets, tabernets, 
minstrels, and a procession of the tenantry, 
through the lordship of Wichnor, and then without 
music to his abode. Since this custom was estab¬ 
lished but very few have dared to claim the prize, 
and three couples only have obtained it, one of 
which, having quarrelled about the mode of cooking 
the bacon, was adjudged to return it; and the other 
happy couple were a sea officer and his wife, who 
had never seen each other from the day of their mar¬ 
riage, till they met at the hall; and “ a simple pair 
in the neighbourhood, the husband a good natured 
sensible man, and the wife luckily dumb.” No 
claimant for the flitch having appeared during sev¬ 
eral centuries, a wooden one was long since substi¬ 
tuted in its stead, and still hangs in the hall, a 
friendly monitor to the young and free, to be cautious 
of trusting themselves in the hymeneal noose.” 

Barton-under-Needwood, is situated nearly 5 
miles S. W. of Burton, it is one of the pleasantest 
villages in the county, and is the residence of 
numerous genteel families. 

Barton is an extensive township, forming part of 

the parish of Tatenhill. In Domesday book it is 

c ailed Bertune , and described as the property of the 

crown. Its manor afterwards successively passed 

into the families of Teners, Somerville, the Earls of 

n 2 


144 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT. 


Derby, and the Earls of Lancaster, after which it again 
reverted to the crown, but was sold by Charles I., 
in 1629, to the citizens of London, of whom it was 
purchased by Sir Edward Bromfield. The present 
owner of the manor is Lady Wilmot Horton. With¬ 
in the township are several large estates and country 
residences, the principal of which are Barton Hall, 
Yew Tree House , and Holly Bank. The latter is 
the residence of M. T. Bass, Esq. 

About a mile E. of the village, is a small hamlet, 
called Barton Turning, on the Burton and Lichfield 
road, and close to the Trent and Mersey canal, and 
to the Barton and Walton station of the Birmingham 
and Derby Bailway. Half a mile farther to the east, 
the river Trent is crossed by a handsome bridge of 
iron and stone, connecting with the pleasant village 
of Walton, the picturesque church of which, with 
the hall and finely wooded park of M. Gisborne, 
Esq., are seen to advantage from the Bailway. 

Barton church, is a spacious and handsome edifice 
of stone, dedicated to St. James. The chancel con¬ 
tains some fine specimens of stained glass. The in¬ 
cumbent is the Bev. Mr. Cooper. 

The Free Grammar School Avas founded in 1593, 
by Thomas Bussell, who by will left money for its 
erection, and endowed it with £21 10s. per annum ; 
this has since been augmented to upwards of £80. 
The Master has also a house rent free, Avith 3 acres 
of land. The teaching of the classics not being con¬ 
sidered of general advantage to the village, was dis- 


NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES. 


145 


continued many years ago, and at present the 
scholars, about 90 in number, are instructed on the 
Madras system; there are also girl’s and infant 
schools. 

TUTBURY * 

Is a large village formerly a market town, in a 
beautiful situation near the banks of the Dove, five 
miles north west of Burton. 

The chief objects of interest in Tutbury are the 
ruins of its ancient castle, said to have been first 
the seat of the Mercian kings. The last Saxon who 
held Tutbury was Hugh de Albrincis, who was 
dispossessed by William the Conqueror, who gave 
it to Henry de Ferrers, by whom the Castle was 
rebuilt on a larger and grander scale ; in 1332 it 
reverted to the Crown, having suffered much from 
decay, but was rebuilt in 1350, by John of Gaunt, 
Duke of Lancaster. It was, on the death of this 
nobleman, once more in the hands of the crown. 
In 15G9 it became the prison of Mary Queen of 
Scots, who remained here about a year and a half. 
King James I. in one of his tours through England 
visited Tutbury Castle, which on his arrival presen¬ 
ted a scene of festivity and splendour. In the civil 
wars of the seventeenth century, the Castle was 
occupied by Charles I., who spent a fortnight here 

* The History of the Castle, Priory, and Town of Tutbury, was 
written by Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart., and published in 1832, in one vol¬ 
ume 8vo., with many engravings. This work is now out of print. There 
is a smaller history, published by Miss Wayte, of Tutbury, containing 
many interesting details, and an engraving of the castle, from an old 
picture. 


146 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT. 


in 1643, blit after a long siege it was surrendered 
to the parliamentary army, in 1648, and was soon 
after dismantled. The ruins seated upon a lofty 
mount overlooking the valley of the Dove, have now 
a very picturesque appearance. The Castle, when 
in its glory, occupied about three acres, and accom¬ 
panied with an embattled wall and deep moat. The 
ancient gateway is tolerably entire, and there can 
be but little doubt from the ruins that remain, that 
this castle was at one period a magnificent building. 

The Church, situated near the castle ruins, is a 
large building finely ornamented with a beautiful 
Saxon doorway of imposing dimensions. The liv¬ 
ing is a vicarge now enjoyed by the Bev. Mr. 
Peach. The other places of worship are the 
Independent, "Wesleyan, and Primitive Methodist 
Chapels. 

The Free School was founded in 1730, by Bichard 
Wakefield, who endowed it with eighteen acres of 
land, for the education of thirty scholars, to whom 
twenty others have been added by the trustees, who 
pay to the master £15 additional. The school was 
built in 1799, and enlarged in 1818. 

The poor of Tutbury enjoy various benefactions, 
amounting to about 500 per annum, left at various 
periods by benevolent persons. 

Within the village are extensive glass works, 
and a corn and cotton mill, on the Dove. These 
employ the greater part of the labouring population 
who are not employed in agriculture. 


NEIGHBOURING TILLAGES. 


147 


The population of Tutbury in 1841 amounted to 
1,835 persons. 


WALTON-UPON-TRENT 

Is a parish and well-built village, on the east bank 
of the Trent, 4J miles S. by AY. from Burton-upon- 
Trent, contains 2,310 acres of fertile land, 88 houses, 
and 472 inhabitants. Population in 1801, 342 ; in 
1831, 408. Rateable value, £3,381. The Marquis 
of Townsend is the principal owner and lord of the 
manor. Lady AYilmot Horton, Sir E. Disbrowe, 
and others, have estates here. The church, dedi¬ 
cated to St. John the Baptist, is a rectory valued in 
the King’s book at £17 2s. 8|d., now £862. The 
Marquis of Townsend is patron, and the Rev. Thomas 
Perrott, is rector. The church, a neat ancient struc¬ 
ture, with a very beautiful east window, was repaired 
at considerable expense, in 1827, by subscription. It 
contains many ancient monuments of rectors and 
others, particularly one to Lady Charlotte, daughter 
of Greorge, Earl of Buckinghamshire, and wife of 
Edward Disbrowe, Esq., who died 1798. The rectory 
is a handsome mansion S. AY. of the church, has 
69a. 36p. of glebe; the tithes were commuted in 
1840, for £677 18s. King Edward II., is said to 
have forded the Trent at this place, when in pursuit 
of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and the rebellious 
Barons. A handsome bridge was erected over the 
Trent, in 1834, at a cost of £5,500, raised in £10 
shares. It is built of iron and wood, and rests on 



148 


BURTON-UPON-TRENT. 


iron piles. The Hall, a handsome house in the vil¬ 
lage, is the seat of Matthew Gisborne, Esq. The 
Birmingham and Derby Railway have a station % a 
mile W. from the village. Borough Field, 1| miles, 
Hill Farm , 1 mile, OaJclands , 1^ miles, are farms 
S. E. from the village. 

At domesday survey this manor was in the crown : 
it was afterwards given to Hugh Lupas. Queen 
Isabella, in 1337, granted it to Henry de Eerrars of 
Chartley, from whom it passed by descent to the 
present possessor. 


WILLINGTOIST 

Is a parish and village, and is pleasantly situated 
on the north bank of the Trent, over which there is 
a bridge, 7 miles S. W. from Derby, 5 miles N. E. 
from Burton-upon-Trent, contains 1,260 acres of 
light fertile land, 98 houses, and 409 inhabitants. 
Population in 1801, 305 ; in 1831, 402. Rateable 
value, £3,204. Sir Robert Burdett, Bart., is lord 
of the manor and principal owner. Repton Corpo¬ 
ration own 224a., and Mr. Shorthose, 30a. The 
Rev. E. W. Spilsbury, owns a neat mansion near the 
Trent. The Grand Trunk canal passes near the 
north side of the village, on which Messrs. Smith 
and Son, of Gainsborough, have a large warehouse, 
coal wharf, and boat-building establishment. The 
Birmingham and Derby railway goes through the 
village, and occupies 15 acres of land. The line 
crosses two of the streets by stone bridges. The 



NEIGHBOURING VILLAGES. 


149 


means of approach from the station to the trains is 
by a flight of 28 stej)s. A neat stone birdge 
of five arches crosses the Trent, which was built 
by subscription, and opened August, 1839, on 
which there is a handsome toll-house. It cost 
£9,000, and the approaches to it £3,000. The 
church, dedicated to St. Michael, is a vicarage, valued 
in the King’s Books at £4 17s. 3d.; now £80, 
augmented with £800 of Queen Anne’s bounty, 
vested in land at Ashby, Leicestershire. The cor¬ 
poration of Etwall and Repton, are patrons. The 
W. Stoddart, M. A., of Repton, incumbent, who 
has 35a. 20p. of glebe and tithe allotment in the 
parish. The church, is an ancient structure, with 
nave, chancel, and transept, with a pinnacled tower 
and 3 bells, which was built in 1824, at a cost of 
£80, defrayed by F. W. Spilsbury, and the bells were 
recast at a cost of £30. It was repewed, and a north 
transept erected at a cost of £300, mostly defrayed 
by Sir Francis Burdett and the Rev. F. W. 
Spilsbury. Here are several neat mural tablets. 
The Methodists have a small chapel, built in 1835, 
and the Baptists have also a small chapel. The Odd 
Fellows have a lodge, and there is a Sick Club. The 
Feast is held on the first Sunday after September 
the 19th. The manor of Domesday survey belonged 
partly to the King and partly to Ralph Fitzhubert. 
King Henry II. gave a manor to Burton abbey. 
The other manor appears to have been given with 
the church by the family of Willington, to the prior 


150 


BURTON-UPON-TREXT. 


and convent of Repton, to whom the tithes were 
appropriated in 1223. William Westcote conveyed 
this manor, about the year 1554, to Sir John Porte, 
founder of Repton school. 


YOXALL 

Is a large and well-built village, in a pleasant 
valley, near the S. W. border of the now enclosed 
forest of Needwood, and 7 miles N.N.E. of Lichfield, 
upon the Ashbourn road. It was anciently a mar¬ 
ket town, and is a member of the honour of Tutbury. 
It is supplied with water by the rapid stream of the 
Swerbourn, which flows through the forest, and falls 
into the Trent about 1|- miles south of the village. 
The parish includes several hamlets and scattered 
houses, and contains 1582 inhabitants, and 4791a. 
1r. 17p. of land, of which upwards of 1200 acres are 
new enclosures in the Yoxall Ward of Needwood 
Forest. The church is an ancient gothic fabric, 
dedicated to St. Peter. It has a nave, chancel, side 
aisles, and a square tower, and is a rectory, in the 
incumbency of the Rev. Edward Willes, and in the 
patronage of Chandos Leigh, Esq., who is also lord 
of the manor. At the enclosure, 174a. 3r. 4p. of 
land was allotted in lieu of the rectorial tithes of that 
part of Needwood forest which lies within this parish. 
Two cattle fairs are held here yearly, on February 
the 12th, and October the 19th. Yoxall was for 
nearly half a century, the residence of the Rev. 
Thomas Gisborne, eminent for his writings, as a 



NEEDWOOD FOREST. 


151 


divine and poet, and distinguished for liis benevolence 
and many Christian virtues. He died in 1846, and 
his son, Thomas Giisborne, Esq., now resides here. 


X 

NEEDWOOD EOREST. 

“ Oft have I, through this solemn glade 
Of old dismember’d hollies, stray’d. 

Whose bold bare rugged brows are seen 
Thrust through the mantling ever-green; 

Tall clust’ring columns here ascend, 

And there in Gothic arches bend ; 

Whilst, as the silver sun-beams rise. 

Imagin’d temples strike my eyes, 

With tottering spire, and mouldering wall, 

And high roof nodding to it’s fall.” 

“ Now let me seek in pensive mood 
The rude recesses of the wood ; 

And, where congenial gloom extends, 

Think of lost hopes and distant friends ; 

Of scenes, whose pleasures fled too fast, 

And hours most valued now they’re past! 

Beside me lies a dingle deep, 

With shaggy banks, abrupt and steep; 

Through vistas wild my course I bend. 

Till day-light opens at the end : 

Where from intoxicating height 
Bursts the wide prospect on my sight. 

The terrace bold, on which I stand, 

Steps broad aud forward on the laud; 
ltude hills compose the side-long scene, 

With crofts and cottages between ; 

The various landscape onward spreads 
O’er cultur’d plains and verdant meads, 

And seats, and towns, and hamlets rise. 

Where yon smoke curls into the skies ; 

And spires that pierce through tufted trees. 

Till faintly fading by degrees. 

Beyond, in wild confusion tost, 

The hills’ blue tops in clouds are lost.” 

Mundy's Needwuod Forest. 

This interesting, extensive, and picturesque dis¬ 
trict, lies to the west of the town of Burton. It was 

o 



152 


BUKTON-TJPON-TEElSrT. 


once a favourite resort of royalty, and of the nobility, 
and gentry of the county, who, here eagerly pursu¬ 
ed, “the cheerful sport of hunting.” 

Need wood formerly belonged to the Duchy of 
Lancaster, hut came into possession of the Crown in 
the reign of Henry IV.; the landowners and others 
still claiming the same rights to which they had 
previously been entitled, such as depasturing their 
cattle, use of firewood, and certain other privileges, 
which were enjoyed by them for a long period un¬ 
molested, until the act for enclosure passed in 1801, 
which empowered the Commissioners to disafforest 
it, and to divide and allot the soil; the enclosure 
was completed in 1811. By this act of parliament, 
the greater portion of this once proud forest, was 
stript of its ancient glories ; the leafy monarchs of 
the wood fell before the enterprising hand of the 
agriculturist, and were carried away for timber, or 
burned for charcoal, or manure. The affrighted deer 
were killed without mercy, or fled away to distant 
parks and plantations. Desolation reigned on every 
side, until agriculture had triumphed over the some¬ 
what sterile soil, clothing it again with verdure and 

fertility. 

* 

Many picturesque spots, too rugged for the plough, 
were however spared; and the remains of the forest 
to this day, present successively hills and pleasant 
vales of every variety of aspect, to which frequent 
abrupt and jagged precipices, afford a striking and 
beautiful contrast, while the noble oaks and other 


NEEDWOOD FOREST. 


153 


trees, shoot up in vigorous luxuriance, as in the days 
of its early glory. 

The dark and shady glens of Needwood, alford a 
delicious retreat in the blaze of a summer’s day, pre¬ 
senting enough of sylvan beauty and of sequestered 
nooks, to draw the attention of the tourist. The 
spreading prospects around, and the fine sweep of its 
hills and precipices, must delight every lover of scenic 
beauty; and not to such alone need enjoyment be 
confined, for the overshadowed pathways, brushy 
banks, and mossy slopes, present an ample field for 
the researches of the naturalist. 

Needwood Forest, in its original state, contained 
about 9500 acres of land, and was included in the 4 
parishes of Tutbury, Hanbury, Tatenhill, and Yoxall, 
extending about 7 miles in length, and 3 in breadth. 

One of the most interesting remains of the sylvan 
glories of this forest, is, an immense oak tree, des¬ 
ignated as the Swilcar Oak. This tree is of 
enormous magnitude, and very imposing in appear¬ 
ance. It is supposed to be upwards of 600 years 
old. It measures 21 feet round the stem, at the 
height of five feet; and is estimated to contain at 
least 1000 feet of timber. 

“ High in the midst with many a frown, 

Huge Swilcar shades his tresses brown; 

Outspreads his bare arms to the skies, 

The ruins of six centuries.” 

Needwood still forms a separate ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction, and at the enclosure, a spacious church 
was erected for the use of the inhabitants. Ten 


154 


BTTRTON-TTPON-TRENT. 


acres were given by tlie King, for the site of the 
cburch, parsonage bouse, and church yard; and 150 
acres for the support of the minister. The present 
incumbent is the Kev. H. Price. 



EURTON-U PUN-TRENT: PRINTED BY WILLIAM WESLEY. 


F 633 ® 





































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